Attendant Must Diet Or Lose Job -- United Weight Policy Called Discriminatory
If flight attendant Catherine Brewer cannot lose seven pounds by Saturday, United Airlines will suspend her without pay.
Unless she loses 18 pounds this year, she risks being fired.
United reinstated a weight policy last month that, among other things, allows flight attendants to gain no more than three pounds per decade.
The airline says the rules are necessary to project a professional image.
But to Brewer and other flight attendants, the rules constitute
an attempt to get rid of older employees.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is company harassment," Brewer says. "In the '90s, we don't need this kind of treatment."
United would not discuss the details of its policy.
Brewer is 44, 5-feet-3 1/2-inches tall, and has worked for United for 24 years.
When she reported to work last week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, she was told to step on a weight scale.
The scale read 150 pounds, 18 over the 132-pound limit United allows flight attendants of Brewer's age and height. Her supervisor sent her home for 10 days, and told her to come back this weekend for another weigh-in.
The Association of Flight Attendants has filed charges with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, contending the restrictions emphasize weight over health, and do not consider an employee's sex, age, race and potential disabilities.
This case joins a lawsuit filed by 13 San Francisco flight attendants against United.
Because of the policy, the airline may suspend as many as 1,600 flight attendants for being overweight, says the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United's 19,000 flight attendants.
About 25 percent of United's 650 Seattle-based flight attendants are having trouble meeting the weight restrictions, union officials say.
Critics charge such weight restrictions, which do not apply to pilots, baggage handlers or other airline employees, discriminate against older flight attendants and women.
"The airline industry has been notorious for stereotyping women," says Andrew Park, an attorney with the EEOC, which is investigating weight policies at United and Delta. "This is just another way to keep them thin and pretty."
In October 1991, the airline agreed not to enforce its weight policy while the company and the union re-evaluated it. After these discussions failed, United told employees it would reinstate the program in April.
United Flight attendants say they must weigh in twice a year.
Each flight attendant carries a chart listing maximum weights. Those who don't meet weight requirements can be put on probation, suspended without pay or ultimately fired.
Brewer acknowledges she's not as thin as she was when she first started flying with United at age 20. As she grew older, it grew harder to keep up with the figures set in the weight table.
She tried to watch her weight but age and erratic work hours caught up. She got into the habit of dieting and taking appetite-suppressant pills just before the airline's mandatory weigh-ins to shed pounds.
Image long has been a point of contention between airlines and flight attendants.
When United first hired Brewer, she not only had to meet the airline's weight restrictions but also had to be single, sign a form promising not to get pregnant and agree to resign at age 32. She also had to wear a girdle on the job and undergo periodic girdle checks.
Most of these rules have since been found to be discriminatory and no longer exist on U.S. airlines.
Weight policies remain, however, at United and many other airlines, backed by an early 1980s court ruling that allows companies to impose mandatory weight restrictions on employees as long as they did not discriminate on the basis of gender or race.
Besides the United case, the EEOC is investigating charges brought by 60 Delta flight attendants who allege their airline's weight policy is discriminatory on the basis of age, sex and disabilities and want to replace the restrictions with a physical fitness standard that reflects their ability to do their jobs.
The agency also has sued US Air, alleging its weight program discriminates against women.
While weight programs have yet to be ruled illegal, several rulings and settlements in similar cases have caused some airlines to loosen their rules.
American Airlines adopted a more liberal weight table two years ago, to settle an EEOC lawsuit brought on behalf of 21,000 flight attendants.
At Seattle-based Alaska, flight attendants have weight charts but are almost never asked to weigh in.
While studies have shown women tend to have a harder time losing weight as they age, they're not the only flight attendants who have had trouble meeting United's weight standards.
When Dennis Figueira, a 39-year-old flight attendant who is nearly 6 feet, 1 inch tall, stepped on United's weight scale on April 22, he was amazed to find that he weighed 200, 12 pounds over the 188-pound maximum allowed for men of his age and size.
Since then, Figueira has eaten mostly fruit and salads, exercises and has brought his weight down.
"I was lucky," he says.
After 15 years as a flight attendant, Figueira's personnel files are filled with letters of praise from travelers on his flights. The prospect of losing a job because he weighs too much irked him.
"I do think it's important that we look neat and professional in our uniforms," he says. "But we're the only ones at United who have to be weighed. It does seem unfair."
--------------------------------------- TOO FAT TO FLY? --------------------------------------- Examples of weight maximums, from United and American Airlines' charts: #
WOMEN BY HEIGHT, AGE GROUPS ----------------------------------------- 5'2" United # # American under 35 125 124-129 35-44 128
132-134 45-54 131 137-142
over 55 134 143-147 .
5'4" under 35 132 130-135 35-44
135 138-141 45-54 138
144-149 over 55 141 150-154 .
5'7" under 35 142 140-146 35-44
145 149-152 45-54 148
155-160 over 55 151 162-166 .
MEN BY HEIGHT, AGE GROUPS. --------------------------------------------. 5'4" under 35 147 143-150 35-44
150 153-156 45-54 153
159-161 over 55 156 161 .
5'10" under 35 174 167-174 35-44
177 178-182 45-54 180
186-188 over 55 183 188 .
6 feet under 35 184 176-183 35-44
187 187-191 45-54 190
195-197 over 55 193 197 .
# Source: United examples provided by Association of Flight Attendants; American examples provided by Association of Professional Flight Attendants..
# # Weight ranges in American examples adjusted for smaller age categories..