Chinese airline Hainan Airlines to monitor flight attendants’ weight

A Chinese airline will not remove a policy that dictates how much flight attendants must weigh despite global backlash.

Hainan Airlines updated its appearance guidelines in June, according to state-run media, however, one specific policy about weight caught the public’s attention.

The airline’s policy stated flight attendants would be grounded if their weight exceeded a certain limit, the Global Times reported.

The limit is calculated according to height. For an attendant who was 158cm tall (a Chinese woman’s average height), the weight limit is 48kg.

Flight attendants who are 10 per cent over their limit will be given a “weight-reduction plan” and temporarily suspended. Those who are less than 5 per cent over the limit must undergo a review and be weighed monthly, Global Times said.

Public anger followed the media report. Online, people interpreted the policy as a representation of unfair gender norms in China.

Writing on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, one user said crew weight was not a relevant factor.

“I just need the flight attendant to be fully qualified in professional knowledge, well-practised in safety procedures, and wear the most suitable shoes and clothes for emergencies. Her weight is none of my business,” they wrote.

On Monday, Hainan Airlines told CNN the policy applied to male and female flight attendants and criticised how the state media framed it.

The airline claimed the policy was partly about maintaining a “good professional image” but also about the crew’s safety and personal wellbeing.

Rather than passively waiting for the crew’s physique to reach a point that was unhealthy or impacted their ability to safely work, the limit communicated the airlines’ support of healthy living habits.

Online, people stated that weight was not necessarily a meaningful measure of a flight attendant’s ability to perform their job or keep people safe. Strength and stamina were cited as more relevant factors.

Others complained about the updated policies, especially as airlines in Western countries appeared to be relaxing their appearance guidelines and ditching requirements for women to wear skirts and heels.

In Aotearoa, Air New Zealand has announced plans to update its customer-facing uniforms, which would replace current designs in 2025.

Across the ditch, Qantas released its first major uniform update in more than 10 years, 9Honey reported.

The airline ditched gender-specific guidelines and told the media outlet Qantas and Jetstar employees could choose for themselves whether they want long hair, makeup, jewellery or flat shoes.

“Fashions change, and so have our style guidelines over the years,” a Qantas representative said in a statement.