Argentinian airline praised for defending its cabin crew

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This was published 9 years ago

Argentinian airline praised for defending its cabin crew

By Oliver Smith
Aerolineas Argentina: "Your prejudices are not going to fly."

Aerolineas Argentina: "Your prejudices are not going to fly."Credit: Alamy

An airline has earned praise for defending its cabin crew after a passenger described them on Facebook as "short and fat".

Andres Horacio Pignataro wrote a message on the Facebook page of Aerolíneas Argentinas (Argentine Airlines) last week, which has since been deleted, calling its flight attendants "low quality".

"What gets my attention is the low quality of flight attendants that the company has," he wrote in Spanish. "Before they were tall, nice. Now they only take short fat girls."

The airline responded with a list of requirements for its cabin crew followed by the statement: "your prejudices are not going to fly".

While Pignataro's post received around 50 "likes", the airline's riposte garnered more than 10 times that amount.

Twitter users also applauded the company. "Fabulous response," wrote one.

"Prejudice doesn't fly. Nice work @Aerolineas_AR," said another.

The list of requirements for becoming a flight attendant on Aerolíneas Argentinas included being older than 18 years, between 163 cm and 175 cm (5'4" and 5'7") in height for women, or 170cm and 185cm for men, being an Argentine national who can speak English, and being able to swim.

Airlines have not always been so forward thinking when it comes to hiring cabin crew. A 1936 New York Times article described the ideal air hostess as "petite; weight 100 to 118 pounds; height 5 feet to 5 feet 4 inches; age 20 to 26 years. Add to that the rigid physical examination each must undergo four times every year, and you are assured of the bloom that goes with perfect health."

Three decades later, in 1966, a New York Times classified ad for stewardesses at Eastern Airlines listed these requirements: "A high school graduate, single (widows and divorcees with no children considered), 20 years of age (girls 19 1/2 may apply for future consideration). 5'2" but no more than 5'9", weight 105 to 135 in proportion to height and have at least 20/40 vision without glasses."

The Telegraph, London

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