There is a debate in the airline industry about weight. Some airlines are proposing that heavier people should be more on commercial flights.
 
I met Chantal.... whose dream was to become a commercial airline hostess but her dream was shattered because she was a plus size young lady as early 15 years.
 
When I was growing up in Spain, my mother was quite a big woman. I took her genes and my body starting bulging at the age of 6. When I joined school, many people thought i looked older than the year of the class.
Many times I explained that I was just tall and big. The kind of food we ate at home with my brother was healthy. My mom was aware of our genes and always insisted that we eat healthy, however, we just kept growing big.
By the age of 15 when i was in higher secondary school, I was the tallest and biggest in the hall school.
 
I joined University and studied Business Administration, but my dream had always been to become an air hostess. I started shopping around for a job in the airline industry. Many airlines shortlisted me on the basis of my university qualification, because many university graduates ordinarily wouldn’t apply to become air hostesses.
 
I was invited for interview by 4 airlines but none of them was willing to offer me a job. Nobody ever mentioned that it was because of my body size or height.
Until one day, an elderly lady in an airline office in Madrid opened up to me and said, “Young lady, don’t waste your time looking for this job. You will never get it. Please find yourself another job and start working and build your life. Airlines will not employ you because you are quite too big. I appreciate that you are beautiful but you do not meet the specifications.”

This was a rude shock. The lady was very polite but the message was delivered. I thanked her because she was very honest with me. I had been riding on false hope that I would get a job sooner or later. It never occurred to me that I was ‘too big for a plane.’
 
I found myself another job in the cargo industry. I fly frequently, but I still wish I should have become an air hostess. My big beautiful body denied me my dream job.
 
Earlier this year, there was a story published by the Daily Mail about a Flight attendant who was grounded after airline decided she was 'too fat to fly.' A crew member from Qingdao Airlines was allegedly stopped from flying because she exceeded its height-to-weight ratio requirements and being overweight.
 
The airline does have stringent weight requirements, but the company has also denied that any employee has been barred or sacked over not meeting such requirements.
 
According to Qingdao's current standards, as listed on their website, any woman who applies for a job as a flight attendant must be between 165-172 cm (65-68 inches) tall and weigh between 50-68kg (110-150 lb). They must also be under the age of 30.

This isn't the first time that an airline has come under scrutiny for imposing weight requirements.
 

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Chantal