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(c) Elliott Publishing.

United Err
Err Travel · September 26, 2000

Earlier this summer, United Airlines found itself in hot water for a policy it had in place between 1980 and 1994. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a policy requiring female flight attendants to weigh less than male flight attendants of the same age and height - between 14 and 25 pounds less - was unlawful.

Unsurprisingly, swimming into this hot water - they thrive in hot water - are the barracu… I mean the trial lawyers. According to The Wall Street Journal, there are 16,000 potential plaintiffs who may have been suspended or terminated because of the policy. (You can almost hear the gills fluttering.)

But that may just be the beginning of a feeding frenzy. The Journal cites a plaintiff's attorney who contends that "others may have suffered emotionally and physically as they struggled to keep their weight within the guidelines." (Oh brother.)

Now paddle to the other side of the pond: Indochina. The water is warm here too. But the suits that are discussed in the airline industry in this part of the world are more likely to be of the swimming than of the suing variety.

Take Singapore Airlines for example. On board its airplanes you will find the Charlie's Angels of Asian air travel. The airline actively touts the "Singapore Girl" in its sales campaigns and doesn't pretend that looks don't count when selecting its air-stewardesses.

Applicants are screened on a number of criteria, appearance always being at the top of the list. In the "water confidence test," for instance, the girls (the airline's word, not mine) dress in swimsuits and are given a thorough going over by a selection panel of senior female staff of the Cabin Crew Division. Then the girls don life jackets, jump from a mock-up of a plane into a swimming pool about five meters below, then swim to the other end of the pool where they are again "inspected." The screeners look especially close at each applicant's skin. They check for scars, unusual pigmentation, and any other "flaw."

At China Airlines, appearance also tops the list of stewardess selection criteria. In what almost sounds like a Chinese proverb, the airline takes a Baywatch approach to candidate selection: it is easier to develop proficient service skills in a gorgeous girl than it is to develop beauty in a terrific server.

Wait a minute. Don't Singapore Airlines and China Airlines fly into American airspace? Let me get my girl working on this.

"Bambi honey, could you put down that nail file down for a minute, and try to get Melvin Belli on the phone."

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.