I remember my first flight to China like it was yesterday. It was an American Airlines flight from Chicago to Shanghai. I had a whole row to myself, about 6 movies to choose from and about 13 and a half hours to wish I was there already. The flight attendants on this trip were all very similar. Granted, they all had to wear the same uniform and all had their hair pulled back. These FAA requirements notwithstanding, they all seemed be carved from the same piece of stewardess stone. What all these American stewardesses had in common on my way to China was that they were all old. Not old enough to be my grandmother, but old nonetheless.

As I’ve traveled back and forth many times now, I realized that all the flights are like this — all of the flight attendants are older women (except for the young Chinese one whose job is to translate the flight announcements into Mandarin). They’re the type of older American woman who calls you “honey” the first time she meets you. Some are aged beauties, holdovers from the days when stewardesses in America had to be beautiful, and some are just aged. But all of them old. As one of these flight attendants explained to me during a mid-flight chat, the reason the flight crews are so aged on trips to Asia is because these are the most sought after flights. And thus, as their union rules dictate, the most senior of flight attendants have first crack at them. This stewardess told me that if she did two return trips to China each month then she wouldn’t have to work the rest of the month. That leaves her with three weeks out of every month to play bingo and eat dinner really early and do other things old people do. Not such a bad gig.

But let’s say you don’t want “something special in the air” and you decide to take a Chinese carrier to or from China. You’ll notice something much different. You’ll find that on Chinese airlines, there’s something really really special in the air — the flight attendants. They are gorgeous. And young. They have perfect figures, perfect hair, perfect skin and perfect smiles. If you wake up from a nap as one of them is walking through the cabin, in a half-conscious state you could reasonably mistake the airplane aisle for a fashion runway and the stewardess for a model. And when they say, “beef with rice or pork with noodles,” it’s with an angelic sweetness that will make you wish there was a third option.

The Chicago Tribune published a story Tuesday on the selection process Chinese airlines use to hire flight attendants. And consistent with my observations, apparently it is the most shallow and sexist process imaginable. You have to be young, beautiful and thin to be hired as a stewardess in China. According to the Tribune, “in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, entry barriers for flight attendants are not only tolerated — they’re flaunted as symbols of excellence.” China’s largest carrier, China Southern Airlines, is in the process of filming a flight attendant reality show which features thousands of hot young girls competing for 180 openings. At China Southern, 45 is the mandatory retirement age. The head of the American flight attendant union called the contest “offensive” and “a setback to our profession on a global scale.” As with any profession in mainland China, flight attendants do not have a labor union. But if and when they get one, maybe 40 years from now when I’m old and gray, they will be the aged Chinese beauties who call me “honey” and attend to me as I fly the friendly Chinese skies.

•Chicago Tribune: Fly the Friendly — and Beautiful — Skies
•AskMen.com: Top 10 Hot Stewardess Airlines
•Photo: People’s Daily

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post