Several flight attendants are suing Russian airline Aeroflot for discrimination, the Svoboda radio station reported Tuesday. The flight attendants allege the company demoted them for their age and size.
In June last year, all female flight attendants were photographed, measured and weighed by the airline – supposedly to have new uniforms ordered, one demoted flight attendant said. The women subsequently discovered that only “thin and young” flight attendants would be assigned to work on international flights.
“Everyone older than 40 and with clothing size larger than 48 [international L, U.S. 14] was taken off international flights,” Yevgenia Magurina, a 41-year-old Aeroflot flight attendant, told Svoboda. “They made it a real torture for us, assigning us only night-time flights or short morning flights.”
When Magurina questioned the move, she was told the airline had introduced new regulations. “I was [told I was] taken off international flights because of my clothing size – my size now has to be smaller than 46 [international M, U.S. size 12], and mine was 48,” she said.
Several other flight attendants told Svoboda similar stories, saying that they were forced to work fewer hours and get smaller bonuses. The women have already filed complaints to the prosecutor's office and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Aeroflot did not respond to Svoboda's request for comment.
