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During November and December 2022, the Turkish recruitment agency of Kuwait Airways, Meccti, held recruitment days for employees at a hotel in Madrid, Spain.
Bianca, Mariana and Maria, who dreamed of working as flight attendants, applied.
The selection process soon became an "elimination round" based on appearance and gender.
According to their claim, the test subjects were asked to undress and remain in their underwear and bra for a "full examination".
The candidates for the position of flight attendant said that they came for the interview at the Melia hotel in Rejas near the Madrid airport.
They claim that the recruiters forced them to undress and remain in underwear only - and underwent a dental examination "as they do to dogs".
The girls say that the recruiters disqualified many of the applicants based on age, gender and appearance even before they were selected for an interview.
Those who passed the first selection stage were asked to enter the recruiting room one by one.
In the presence of a woman, they were allegedly asked to take off their shirts, sweaters and skirts and remain in their underwear so that the recruiters could examine their bodies.
The Spanish newspaper elDiario.es compiled the testimony of three women who participated in the sorting and tell exactly the same story.
A Kuwait Airways plane (Photo: ShutterStock)
Mariana's testimony
23-year-old Mariana said in her testimony that women who were overweight, wore glasses or had visible moles or scars were immediately rejected, with one woman being told that they do not recruit people with scars.
"There was someone there who spoke seven languages. She was told she was disqualified because she had a mini scar on her back. They told her they didn't care about the seven languages she knew," she said, "I was one of the last to go in for the interview and I saw women leaving with their shirts half open, when they They are still buttoned up - either with the dresses half down or skirts up.... We all looked at each other and said 'what the hell is going on here?'"
When she went in for the interview, the recruiter asked Mariana to stand against the wall for measurements: "He told me I had spots on my face and that he didn't like it," she said, "He rubbed my face to check if I had makeup on and asked me if I could smile. He He looked in my mouth to check my teeth and asked me to take off my glasses because Kuwait Airways doesn't usually employ people to wear them."
"In the other room the recruiter asked me to lift my skirt. She asked me to open the top of my shirt, she touched my arm and took the shirt off. I stayed in my bra, skirt and tights. She looked at my arms and my body, wrote notes in a notebook Little, I felt like an animal in the zoo."
Mariana had applied to several other airlines in the past, but she had never been treated like this, she said.
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Bianca, one of the complainants in a disturbing testimony
Bianca's testimony
Another interviewee, 23-year-old Bianca, told the local media that the woman in front of her left in tears after her interview ended: "She told us that they made her take off almost all her clothes except her underwear. It was her first interview. Others told the same story."
When it was her turn, Bianca was asked about her weight and height and asked to lift her dress, but her interviewers "wanted to see more."
Finally, she was left there dressed in a bra, skirt and tights: "They said it was to check that we didn't have scars, birthmarks or tattoos."
She added: "The recruiter asked me to open my mouth and looked in like I was a dog. She almost put her eye in my mouth to see my teeth. Then she said something like 'that will do'. I felt super humiliated. At that moment you don't understand What's really going on there. It took me a while to digest it. People think I did it voluntarily but it felt so surreal at that moment."
Listen to the testimonies of the victims:
Maria's testimony
19-year-old Maria said that while some of the interviewees were told that they should lose weight and eat less, others were told that they should gain weight.
"During the English test, they started rejecting candidates because of their appearance. One candidate was too old, someone else had freckles on her face, another was too fat. Some were told to lose weight, others were asked to gain weight," she says.
Maria confirms the testimony of Mariana and Bianca.
She was also forced to take off her shirt and pants for the purpose of a physical examination.
"I was told to remove my tattoo on my ankle, a tattoo I had already planned to remove with a laser. After the visual examination, I was measured and asked about my weight."
Example of a job interview at Kuwait Airways:
Meccti published the screening process on its website and social media channels.
The company announced that Kuwait Airways requires, among other things, "weight and height in proportion with a minimum height of 1.60 cm".
On its website, Meccti defines itself as a "leader in the recruitment of airline employees" and boasts of recruiting flight attendants and pilots all over the world. It works with A number of airlines listed on its website, such as Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Saudi Arabia and Spice Jet.
Kuwait Airways and Meccti did not respond to the allegations published in the Spanish media.
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