Kuwait Airways is taking heat after recruiters in Spain asked prospective female flight attendants to undress down to their undergarments so their bodies could be examined.
Kuwait Airways Asks Flight Attendant Recruits To Undress During Job Interview
El Diario interviewed a trio of flight attendant candidates who had interviewed for the job at a Kuwait Airways casting call in Madrid run by Meccti, a Gulf-based recruitment agency. As noted by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, the event took place on November 5, 2022 at a hotel near Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD).
A pool of around 60 candidates was quickly narrowed down, with those deemed too fat or too ugly or too old dismissed (often after crude remarks were made at their expense). All male candidates were also dismissed, with the recruiters reportedly saying that Kuwait Airways does not hire foreign male flight attendants.
Then it got even more interesting, as told by Bianca, one of the candidates, when the girls were asked one by one to enter a back room:
“The first girl that came in came out crying and she told us that they had made her take off almost all of her clothes, except her undergarment. It was her first interview. The others came out telling the same thing, it was hard for me to believe it, I was freaking out. But they were not exaggerating.”
Bianca then was called and asked again about whether she had scars, birthmarks, or tattoos, even though she had already answered the question earlier and on her application.
“It was the second time they asked me that. She then asked me to pull up my dress. I pulled it up a little bit, it came down to just below my knees, and she pulled it up to me panties. The dress had a zipper down the back and she asked me to pull it down to my waist and stay in a bra. She said it was to see that we didn’t have scars, birthmarks, tattoos. He was turning around to look exaggeratedly at my body.”
But wait. There’s more. Those who were accepted were asked to pay a €1,900 deposit to offset their training as a means of verifying that they were serious about the job.
“He explained that they were going to invest a lot of money in us and they needed that to know that we would go if we were chosen. The money was destined to cover part of the training expenses, the transfer to Kuwait and initial accommodation. But he also told us that if we went ahead and started working there we wouldn’t spend anything, that we would only gain.”
What a bargain!
A Horrible Story, But Not A Unique One
I want to address this story in two ways. First, I want to address the specific fact pattern of this story. Second, I want to make a broader observation.
When it comes to the specific actions of this story, it should be first noted that such discrimination is illegal under Spanish law. Spain’s Ministry of Labor has expressed outrage and vowed to investigate.
Second, doesn’t it strike you as a little off (hence the casting couch reference) that these flight attendants would be asked to disrobe so areas of the body could be checked that will not ever be exposed when in uniform? Is Kuwait Airways concerned about how the crew might be perceived during crew layovers? In any case, I see no legitimate basis for such an invasion of privacy. Those who recruit labor in Spain must abide by Spanish labor laws.
But here’s the broader issue. This sort of discrimination still goes on quite overtly in the Middle East and Asia in some ways continues all over the world. Remember when United and Emirates launched their partnership last autumn? Did the flight attendants paraded before us with the Emirates flight attendants on video and at the signing ceremony look anything like what we regular United flyers typically see onboard?
I’ve never seen a crew this youthful or all wearing skirts instead of trousers…
What can we draw from this more benign discrimination? While the era of simply objectifying the stewardess (to use that older term) may be over, even the more progressive airlines still choose the pretty ones and the skinny ones and the young ones for their ad campaigns. Beauty may be subjective, yet distinct qualities of symmetry, age, and shape are still highly favored.
While the most important function of a flight attendant is to effectively assist and evacuate in case of emergency, there is no denying that even in 2023 there is a certain mystique that all airlines, in their own way, attempt to capture in the way they market and recruit their flight attendants.
Therefore, while we certainly can pass judgment against Kuwait Airways in this specific situation, we would be wise to remember that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones…
CONCLUSION
I’m not surprised, yet nevertheless horrified by what prospective Kuwait Airways flight attendants were forced to endure at a recruiting event in Spain. I see no justification for asking a flight attendant to strip, with or without prior warning. Even so, there is still an aspirational element of being a flight attendant rooted in beauty that continues in nations that have long moved past the sexist and ageist hiring practices of prior generations. Put another way, I see no valid link between the age or size of a flight attendant and the service provided, yet selling flight attendants remains part of selling airline tickets and youthfulness is still a hot commodity. Let’s not kid ourselves otherwise.
top image: Kuwait Airways
Hardly see how you can call for passing judgement against the airline when a third party recruitment firm was the one that allegedly has asked interviewees to strip down.
The airline is conducting an internal investigation of its own to see if any of what happened is/was actually true.
The airline tweeted about this alleged incident yesterday.
It’s just like when something happens on a regional and the airline blames their “contractor.” Sorry, I wasn’t born yesterday.
exactly on point. these recruit firms are hired with clear instructions.
They were just checking to make sure these job candidates were actually female and some “trans” thing.
You mean female? F you boomer.
We now know Fudge Packing Pete won’t be flying Kuwait Airlines due to no trolley dollys. Oh that’s right, he just uses government planes to fly to private sporting events with his boy toy.
just a troll, aren’t you? hope you enjoy being one who is not able to contribute intelligently to this conversation. enjoy your small mind
Nope, I’m as real as they get and more truthful than many others on here. I’m a big kid who made enough money to retire in my early 50’s and never have to work another day again in my life if I don’t want to. And I grew up in an age where it was funny to laugh at homos. And still find it funny as it’s not “normal” behavior as much as they try to justify it. That said, I wish them no ill will but will always make fun of them. It’s my option.
As for adding to this site, trust me I fly more than half the people here and do it 109% for pleasure so I add content with a different perspective of most on here who are stuck doing it for some sh$$ty job they think makes them important.
That said my travel is almost 100% domestically as I laugh at foreigners in the same way I laugh at Tonsil Jockeys.
Have a great day buddy!
This explains a lot. I have suspected for a while now that you were a young person in the 70s or 80s, and never fully developed mentally. You’ll probably disagree about the mental development part, that’s part of the mental defect, but am I at least right about the era of your youth?
Within the group of folks who comment here regularly, you are, without any doubt, the person who thinks most often about Pete Buttigieg’s anus. You’ve posted about it a number of times over the past week, now even after an article that’s completely unrelated. The fact of the matter is that you think regularly about gay men and male-male sex acts and in an unsolicited fashion write about these thoughts in correspondence that is not even about those topics.
It’s clear that you don’t understand why you regularly think and write about these things, and that you enjoy the attention you get from thinking about and writing about gay men.
Or someone can be very intelligent enough to make millions through hard work and tough decisions in life and still laugh at men thinking it’s normal to stick another man’s c#ck in their mouth and ass. Ever think of that?
Yes I grew up in a different time but plenty of people today still laugh at these ass pirates. And it’s all on Petey Plug that we know about it because he used it to progress his career in a time some feel being gay or another minority is a prerequisite to get certain jobs. Many believe Senator Graham is a little light in the loafers (old one), but since he doesn’t announce it, mostly it’s liberals who bring it up.
And yes, you are absolutely correct about my general age. Either way, thanks for your opinions, I can handle them.
In response to your question: “Ever think of that?”
Yes, I have thought of that, and it’s abundantly clear that it’s not your situation. You’re not compulsively thinking and writing about gay men and male-male sex acts because you find this stuff funny.
You can wave your hands around and talk about your wealth as much as you like, but no matter how wealthy you are or aren’t, it doesn’t disguise the reality that you are the one in the conversation who can’t stop talking about male-male sex, even when it’s not the topic.
You don’t understand why you’re doing this, but in the end it comes down to the fact that you didn’t develop fully mentally.
Your comments would be funny if they weren’t so sad. It’s always the guy who makes fun of gay guys all the time who’s gay himself and can’t bring himself to admit it… Hopefully you get some professional help before your self-loathing turns into self harm. Everyone deserves a chance to be happy with the way God created them.
Sorry Dick, hopefully it doesn’t hurt from someone’s ass being too tight. And until proven otherwise there is no God, and if there was you 2 could have a hell of a conversation about your life choices.
And wouldn’t you people be happy if someone who feels you are a sexual deviate “self harmed” themselves? Come on Dick, be honest, you hate people who think you are a freak of nature.
If you made enough money in your 50s to retire early (I’d have to say that isn’t early) that means you’re old enough to croak any day now! Your opinions are fortunately a dying breed along with those within that demographic. Have you considered putting a down payment on your eternal resting place, Dave-y boy?
No different than anyone else, average health for my age. But yes, I agree with you, no one is guaranteed tomorrow so we need to enjoy today while still being financially responsible.
Butt (Ha) that has nothing to do with the topic at hand and that is the discussion that taking c#$k as a man is normal. You seem to think it’s ok and there is nothing wrong with that. I think it’s not normal and there is nothing wrong with that either.
Sadly you people (whatever you are) get so offended when someone doesn’t think or believe how you think they should. So WHO has the problem?
And you people always come back to the fact that anyone who doesn’t agree with your lifestyle has to be “gay” themselves. Is that part of your science too? So most of the Arab world that still throws you people off a roof is also “gay”? It makes no sense.
How do you explain why all the new “gay” movies that are shoved down our throats (similar to your actions) failed at the box office recently?
This is getting way off the rails here but the bottom (Ha) line is you homos are so sensitive that others don’t approve of your life choices. But hey, you still have bathhouses, truck stops and adult bookstores to find like minded individuals.
Yes, many of the people that throw gays off of roofs have gay feelings, otherwise why would they be so threatened by it. The rest are just going along with it. It’s ok to be gay Dave Edwards, there’s probably a few guys you could hook up with at the pickleball court. You grew up in the generation that showered naked after gym class, I’m sure you have some repressed feelings from those days.
Mr. Edwards, your post is misleading. Secretary Buttigieg was sent to head the presidential delegation for the Invictus Games, which is an international sporting event for wounded veterans and active service members. For cabinet level presidential delegations, military aircraft is normally provided. In addition, spouses are allowed to come along to such events. President Trump sent his own delegations to the Invictus Games in 2017 and 2018. Are you referring to different “sporting events”?
This is sad. Whenever I’ve heard something on the lines of “taking clothes off for research purposes” it did not end well every time.
I know that a lot of airlines used to do something similar in hiring practices where they would solely select flight attendants if they were female and based on physical appearances until the early 2000s (most notably asian carriers such as KE, SQ, JL, etc and the gulf carriers) as a means to attract customers. However, almost all of these airlines abolished these rules at least 14 years iirc once they’ve received enough traction and/or realized that their hiring practices were very discriminatory.
This is horrible but why didn’t these woman simply walk away when asked these questions and to remove their clothes. They were not in a prison, they were in a hotel in Madrid. Simply give them the middle finger, walk away and report to the police. This is how you change this. If nobody follows this absurd process there won’t be FAs to work for them.
Retrograde airline for a retrograde “country.”
Kudos to dave edwards for possessing the self awareness to admit you’re a 12 year old man child who fails to come up with original gay slurs. That does indeed make your contributions unique.
The upfront payment for a prospective job is a scam that often pops up when the job market is poor for applicants and people get desperate enough to do stupid things like that.
Certain jobs are still often filled by appearance. Notable bartenders and servers in various restaurants/bars/clubs are often hired based on looks. A while back there was a club in Scottsdale and it was huge and all of the female bartenders wore black boustiers. Most of the women were early 20s, the one lady in her 30s called herself the grandma of the group. I knew a bartender from a different place and she hinted at how if you wanted the best shifts at other places she had worked, you had to fool around with the manager.
I do think the job, since it does entail safety, should have a fitness requirement and some training. Even more so with all of the nuts attacking people on planes.
They certainly picked the wrong place for that kind of nonsense- Spain is surprisingly woke for a country with a Catholic tradition, and the current government is left-wing too. I suspect that they could easily gotten away with such a stunt in Hungary or even Poland (heck, even Greece often turns a blind eye to that sort of thing). I hope there are some personal EU-wide consequences for a few senior managers within the airline, and I am certainly not in a rush to fly them.
“Kuwait Airways does not hire foreign male flight attendants.”
Really..how dumb are these women. At some point can’t they show a little self responsibility and say no. They so easily allow themselves to be taken advantage of.
I worked in Kuwait for several years and my partner works as a flight attendant for this airline. We were as shocked as anyone else to hear this story, and I’d have to say it doesn’t reflect the experiences of any of the crew that I know at Kuwait (who were all recruited years ago, I will admit). I also happen to know that they do hire non-Kuwaiti male crew, I’ve met many of them, though as I understand they must be Arabic speakers… so I can only think that the recruiting agency is not being entirely straight and was the main driver behind the invasive request to disrobe. That said, they probably justified it to themselves and the girls through the fact that (of course, like any MENA or Asian airline) there are strict and discriminatory criteria for hiring female cabin crew based around appearance.
I have to say, getting up in arms about being asked to undress in front of some seedy recruitment agency interviewers is entirely correct, their demands were inappropriate and suspect. I don’t get why people are so upset at the idea that Kuwait Airways (and Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Cathay, Singapore etc etc the list goes on) have appearance as one of their selection criteria…. it’s not Europe or North America. Applicants should be aware that if you want to work in these companies, they are going to assess you based on your looks as well. If you can’t hack that idea at interview, you are for sure not going to be cut out for working at these places anyway. I don’t applaud that, but that is how it is.