Four year old Malaysian airline Malindo Air requires potential flight attendants to disrobe in their interviews.
Malindo aircraft takes off at Kota Kinabalu , Copyright: rumandawi / 123RF Stock Photo
According to the airline’s director of public relations, “It is the right of the employer to request potential flight attendants to expose their chests to interviewers.” He also thinks “most airlines do the same” because “cabin crew needed to be presentable.”
- They must remove their tops (but may leave their bra on) “to see if applicants had visible marks” and if they do, where those marks are on the body. The airline’s uniform is “partially see-throughs” however it includes “a corset inside and if it is covered by the corset, it is okay.”
- They also must “bare their legs thigh-high” because female uniforms have long slits so “[w]e need to know if there are scars or any marks as you can see their legs when they walk.” But don’t worry,
“The slit is also tailored in such a manner where it will enable flight attendants to move around easily, especially during an emergency.”
While Islam is the state religion in Malaysia — Malindo Air is based in Petaling Jaya, just outside Kuala Lumpur (and home to some great restaurants) — Malaysia is just south of Vietnam, home to VietJet where the female founder argues flight attendants in bikinis empowers women.
Update via One Mile at a Time, AirAsia is trying to benefit from taking the opposite stance and has since put out a recruitment ad promising not to make prospective flight attendants take off their clothes:
Does this represent thought leadership?
I will, if at all possible, refrain from making some politically incorrect comment… 😉
I wonder if the Malindo Air interview policy will be implimented as part of the Delta Airlines RDQ standard?
Women are hypocrites. They will use sexuality as a weapon when they want and cry discrimination when they want it.
They game the system and get men to do their bidding, because men hope listening to women’s crap will get them laid.
@Credit
Cool story bro. How much did the ex-wife take you for in the divorce?
Admittedly, I’m (probably wrongly) assuming any woman would allow you near her…that’s women’s fault too right?!
Credit–your negativity and personal attacks demonstrate extreme unhappiness and insecurity in your life. Did not your dear mama ever tell you, “If you cannot be nice, be quiet”?
The reason over sized huge old, ugly United waitresses wear those awful dress potato sack uniforms is, because they are so fat, that they do not fit into the regular shirt/jacket/combination and the United “Waitresses” are even too lazy to put on the skirt/blouse. So, they rather put the potato sack over their head… often times so dirty, disgusting and full of stains and gravy…
I had a bi-polar drunk United waitress neighbor. She also told me that all the Senior S-UA crews going to South Pacific, Sydney specifically, were bunch of druggies, they would buy pills called “Footballs” because it was orange in shape of a football, the Temezepam family. They would get it from a Pharmacy in Sydney that use to sell the same stuff to Pan Am people and would sell it to UA crews without prescription real cheap. The crews would take these pills, half an Ambien, half of a Zianx to go on their 5 hour breaks between SYD and LAX. Then, they would drink a bunch of coffee and sugar to wake up for the service before landing. The reason they would rush, because the Pursers would only leave 1.15 (75 minutes) for the service before landing, so they would get more rest time (2 break times versus 3 breaks), longer Crew rest breaks, that is why they were always grabbing the trays, rushing, running like chickens with their head cut off. It was a crazy scene, and they always had drama on every single trip, crew conflict, Pilots/Flight attendants dating (intimate affairs), Flight Attendants stealing trips from each other, or fighting on which lazy way to do or not to do the service. Even once they shoved the hot towels in the bread warmer to hide it in the galley from the Purser, they forgot that it was plastic wrapped and they left it in the bread warmer and it got on fire in middle of the pacific and almost caused an emergency landing in Fiji. Junior crews would pay Senior gals for their senior trips… A total nightmare… Supervisors harassing gay guys for wearing Make up or for being fem. Supervisors harassing crews that called in sick in route, calling therm in their hotel rooms, calling the hotel front desk to see what they have been up to while sick, a real full on drama at no so friendly skies of Untied!
A very dysfunctional airline, no wonder they all hate each other with passion!
Thanks David I feel sick after reading that.
Credit, that was one bizarre rant. Entertaining and angry, but bizarre.
David, awesome story. Should be a miniseries.
So I assume this doesn’t apply to male FA’s ?
As a male I don’t see a major problem with this interview method but I assume many women would disagree.
Maybe they could rename it to Bill Clinton airlines.
TRUMP AIRLINES way more appropriate.
The interviewer could just walk in halfway through.
Getting back to the article, I believe it is to check out whether the applicant has tattoos that may possibly be visible at any given time. The content of the story has turned out a PR disaster for the airline as they clearly didn’t have the foresight on how to handle it should it get into the hands of excitable writers intent on sexualizing the non-story. Keep it in your pants and zip up guys!
I don’t think it’s a non-story. Requiring disrobing is seriously disturbing. How about just asking if the applicant has scars/tattoos?
@Credit – benefiting from one’s sexuality vs being forced to strip down are two wildly different things. And believe it or not, some men can actually control themselves.
How about making them try on the uniform?
@Karen Sure men can control themselves but why should they? Women sure dont
As another female reader, I’m with Shannon. And, I’d feel the same way if it were a post about an airline that features a male chippendales calendar.
VietJet can do what it wants. VFTW can publish what it wants. But walking in on this post at VFTW is akin to when I walked into my first small used car dealership 20 years ago and the walls were plastered with posters of barely dressed women.
Yes, we can opt not to read the post. We also can opt to speak up when something is offensive. It goes both ways: if you think VFTW has every right to post this, we equally have the right to publish that we find it problematic.
Some of the men who don’t see a problem with this think that because they don’t, women shouldn’t have a problem with it either. Soon we will be hearing the justification that this is simply “celebrating the female body” and we should feel empowered accordingly. And/or that the women who posed in the calendar are just fine with their choice, they did so freely and were likely paid well for doing so, and if we value choice, we should be fine with their decision, too.
We aren’t uncomfortable with the female body: ours or others.
We’re uncomfortable with it being used/appropriated as a sexualized promotional piece. It doesn’t matter if the women who posed in this agreed to be used in that manner.
It matters that VFTW and others continue to celebrate the use of women’s bodies solely as objects for others to gaze upon and consume as commodities.
It’s been my experience that generally, the men who get this point of view are the ones actually “getting laid.” (and there are many of you, and I salute you). The ones squealing about the weight of United stewardesses are the ones who can’t get the opposite sex to give them a glance, let alone a phone number.
Sounds to me like trump owns Malindo and kelyane conway or sarah huck is their spokesperson with this spin…”flight attendants in bikinis empowers women”
Let’s all stick to the story, not opinions of other posters.
Wow.. this thread is an oldie but a goodie.
Just saw this one.
Cw has the right solution. I can understand the airline wants to make sure there are no undesirable skin markings showing (yeah, it’s sexist but that’s basically to be expected) but the way to do this is have someone eyeball them while wearing the uniform rather than making them strip to their underwear.