Fat Shaming: Chinese Airline Grounds Overweight Flight Attendant

Laura Begley Bloom
·Editor-in-Chief
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China’s Qingdao Airlines is taking heat for its crew weight regulations. (Photo: Airbus)

Now that’s not nice.

China’s Qingdao Airlines, a domestic carrier that launched in 2014, has reportedly grounded a flight attendant for being overweight, according to the South China Morning Post.

The airline denies the allegations, but the stats stand for themselves: To become a flight attendant with Qingdao Airlines, women must be younger than 30, between 165 cm and 172 cm tall (5′ 5″ - 5′ 8″), and weigh between 50 kg and 68 kg (110-150 lbs).

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“We are concerned that exceeding weight standards will compromise the ability of cabin crew members to respond in emergency situations, and we hope the crew can maintain good body shape,” a representative of Qingdao Airlines told Thepaper.cn.

In fact, China’s civil aviation authority also maintains rigid standards, stipulating that female flight attendants between 160 cm (5′ 2.9″) and 172 cm (5′ 7.7″) tall should weigh between 45 kg (99 lbs) and 73 kg (160 lbs).

Related: Fliers Aren’t Getting Any Smaller. Is It Time to Widen Airplane Seats?

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Qingdao Airlines flight attendants. (Photo: Qingdao Airlines)

Weight is an issue with many airlines. Last year, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a rule that cabin crew could be declared “unfit” for duties if their weight is above an acceptable BMI. And some airlines in China have been know to stage beauty pageants for prospective flight attendants.

Passengers haven’t had it easy, either. Two weeks ago, Uzbekistan Airways announced that it will weigh baggage and passengers before they board the plane. And in 2013, Samoa Air began to charge passengers different fares based on their weight.

In the U.S., there are no official weight regulations for crew members, but most airlines still look for weight to be in proportion to height. In 1973, a federal court ruled that Northwest Airlines had to get rid of appearance rules and any other restrictions not related to safety.

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