This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Representatives of the Russian airline Aeroflot have said it is reasonable for female flight attendants to face financial penalties if they are deemed to be overweight.

At a press conference on Tuesday following two recent lawsuits, two Aeroflot representatives appeared to attempt to justify the airline’s alleged policing of its female employees’ appearance.

Two flight attendants have taken the airline to court in recent weeks, part of a group of women who have jokingly named themselves STS – an abbreviation of “old, fat and ugly” in Russian. They say Aeroflot moved them from prestigious long-haul flights to lower-paid domestic routes because of their physical appearance.

Evgenia Magurina, one of the complainants, claimed that last year all Aeroflot flight attendants were photographed, measured and in some cases weighed. Women who did not meet the requirements were withdrawn from international routes.



“We have had our salary lowered due to our clothing size. We are allowed to fly, but our salary is lowered,” said Magurina. Ilona Borisova, of a flight attendants’ trade union, said the changes affected about 600 Aeroflot attendants.

The airline won both court cases, and insisted in a statement in February that it never discriminated on the basis of appearance, age or weight and that all of Magurina’s allegations were baseless.

However, on Tuesday the two Aeroflot representatives appeared to tacitly acknowledge that such a policy was indeed in place.



Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) The Aeroflot rep in the green jacket is explaining to the stewardess two from the left why having fat air stewardesses is dangerous pic.twitter.com/K5TuG4sT1U

“Aeroflot is a premium airline and part of the reason people pay for tickets is the appearance of its employees,” said Pavel Danilin, a member of the airline’s public council.

He said a survey of Aeroflot passengers showed that “92% want to see stewardesses who fit into the clothes sizes we are talking about here”. The women alleged that flight attendants above a Russian size 48 (roughly a UK 14) had had benefits docked.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Evgenia Magurina during her court case. Photograph: Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

Nikita Krichevsky, another member of Aeroflot’s public council, said the penalties should not be seen as a salary docking but as an incentive to lose weight. He accused the women of “trying to blacken the name of the state air company” and said they should be pleased the company cared about their health.

Krichevsky said if they didn’t like the conditions they should resign, and added that it should be easy for them to lose weight. “I myself used to weigh 103kg, and now I weigh 80kg. I just corrected my eating habits and lost weight. I don’t understand why the request to be a particular size is unrealistic.”

Krichevsky also attacked Magurina personally, complaining that she had refused to meet Aeroflot bosses without a lawyer present, which he considered suspicious. He also made reference to her “large breasts”.

Later on Tuesday, Aeroflot said in a statement that the two men had appeared at the press conference “on their own initiative” and their comments did not necessarily reflect the airline’s position.



It said they were “the personal view[s] of the members of the public council” who attended the press conference. “Aeroflot’s position was made clear in court where, as is well known, the cases of Magurova and Ierusalimskaya were dismissed,” the statement read.

The airline’s website lists Danilin and Krichevsky as members of its 25-person public council. A document on the public council says its functions include “explaining Aeroflot’s positions to a wide audience”. Only five of the 25 council members are women.

In recent years Aeroflot has shed its grim Soviet-era reputation and has acquired many brand-new planes while focusing on improved customer service. It has launched a major sponsorship deal with Manchester United.

The airline recently received a four-star rating from the airline consultancy Skytrax, and it aims to win a five-star rating.

Krichevsky claimed at the press conference that having flight attendants who were not overweight was one of a “range of measures” required in order to attain a five-star rating.