Malaysian Airlines wants a cabin crew ‘young and pretty’
This is taken from todays IHT and is absolutely outrageous. 35 would be a far more appropriate cut off.
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Airlines has grounded air hostesses over the age of 40, and a senior airline executive defended the move by saying that passengers wanted to be served by "young, demure and pretty stewardesses," a report said Tuesday.
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The national flag carrier had no intention of discriminating against women as alleged by the employees' union, the general manager for corporate services, Mohammadon Abdullah, was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.
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But, he added: "Let's face reality. Customers prefer to be served by young, demure and pretty stewardesses, especially Asian ladies."
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The Malaysian Airline System Employees Union last week began a campaign against alleged sex discrimination by the airline over the retirement age. Women must retire from flying by the age of 45 if they are supervisors and by the age of 40 if they hold nonsupervisory posts, 15 years earlier than their male counterparts.
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"We need front-liners who are mentally and physically alert, young, pretty and quick to respond to emergencies as safety and security of passengers is our priority," Mohammadon said. He also suggested that women over 40 had domestic problems that interfered with their jobs, espcially if they were married with children. KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Airlines has grounded air hostesses over the age of 40, and a senior airline executive defended the move by saying that passengers wanted to be served by "young, demure and pretty stewardesses," a report said Tuesday.