Light Measures

Listen to Today's Edition:

One of China’s biggest airlines came under scrutiny this month after the company issued a new policy imposing strict weight requirements on female flight attendants, NBC News reported.

Hainan Airlines unveiled a series of guidelines for its cabin crew, saying that female flight attendants would immediately be grounded if their weight exceeded the “standard limit” by 10 percent.

The guidelines incorporated a formula to calculate the limit based on height and specified that the company would subject suspended flight attendants to a supervised “weight-reduction plan.”

The airlines added that the female employees’ appearance was also important for the company’s image.

But the policy received swift criticism from Chinese netizens, airline workers and labor rights advocates.

Lawyer Liu Tao said the policy was “very inappropriate and obviously illegal in China,” adding that it could constitute employment discrimination. He explained that China abolished a law that allowed weight standards for flight attendants in 2001.

Flight attendants from other airlines, meanwhile, complained that similar expectations are present in their own jobs. Some questioned the exclusive preference for thin female cabin crew members, because “they can’t even help passengers put away their luggage.”

The new guidelines come as Chinese domestic carriers have begun a hiring spree to meet the spiking demand for travel following the lifting of “zero-Covid” restrictions.