Female flight attendants accuse Aeroflot of discrimination

Several flight attendants employed by Russian airline Aeroflot are suing the company on allegations of discriminating against its employees based on appearance and denying them their rights as workers, reported Radio Liberty, citing an interview with one of the flight attendants.

The flight attendants claim that in summer 2016 Aeroflot had photographs of all of its flight attendants taken and recorded all of their clothing sizes. According to airline employee Yevgeniya Magurina, the data collection took place in the pretext of a company “re-branding” for the purpose of ordering new uniforms. She maintains that the airline said that “only young and thin” flight attendants would be allowed to fly abroad and that such flights will not accommodate flight attendants with clothing sizes exceeding 46 (medium).

Another flight attendant told Radio Liberty that those who did not meet the newly-defined standards were denied the right to fly internationally and started receiving more frequent, short flight assignments, which are more difficult to handle physically. Other Aeroflot staff told the news organization that the new standards were introduced after director Vitaly Saveliev returned from a trip to Asia and decided to revise the company’s personnel policy. In particular, he apparently recommended that Asian-looking flight attendants be hired to work in business class and that flight attendants crouch beside clients flying in luxury classes.

According to the newspaper, at least two lawsuits have been filed against the airline in Moscow courts, one by Yevgeniya Magurina and another by an unnamed flight attendant. Both have seen a reduction in their “corporate success” coefficient at Aeroflot, because their clothing size does not correspond to the new rules. One of the flight attendants is seeking compensation in the amount of 1 million rubles (approximately $17,317).

In November 2016, publication The Village reported that flight attendants were complaining about the new requirements for appearance and clothing size.

In November 2015, Aeroflot subsidiary Orenburg Airlines lost a lawsuit filed by a former flight attendant who was fired after 35 years of work. The Court found that she was laid off without considering the efficiency of employees with less experience. The woman was reinstated and compensated in the amount of 160,000 rubles.