Journalist and helicopter pilot Lauren Sánchez was once dismissed as a flight attendant by Southwest Airlines for weighing too much.
In a new interview with WSJ MagazineSánchez, 53, shared that she failed to meet Southwest’s weight limitations in 1989.
After leaving home at 18, Sánchez, who is currently in a relationship with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, moved to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a flight attendant. However, Southwest Airlines told her she was too big to work for them.
“At the time they weighed you and I weighed 121 pounds,” Sánchez explained to the WSJ. “They said, ‘You must be 115’.”
While the Sánchez incident happened in 1989, Southwest’s rules have changed since then. On its current flight attendant careers page, the airline asks that potential candidates meet certain specifics, including a minimum age of 20 and a “well-groomed appearance.”
“Weight should be proportionate to height so as to maintain a neat appearance and not interfere with the physical ability to perform all job functions,” the website states. Attendants must also be able to “lift 50 pounds at shoulder height, among other physical qualifications.”
Looking back, Sánchez says she knows what she would say to the airline these days if she was rejected: “I don’t want to be a flight attendant. I want to be the pilot!
As Sánchez sought a role as a flight attendant, it’s not uncommon for women to be criticized for their weight when seeking employment in Hollywood and beyond. Jennifer Lawrence Was Once Asked To Lose 10 Pounds For Her Role As Katniss Everdeen In The hunger Games. However, she refused to do so.
“These books were huge and I knew the audience was made up of children. I remember the biggest conversation was, “How much weight are you going to lose?” she told Viola Davis on the Variety show. Actors on Actors series. “Besides being young and growing up and not being able to diet, I don’t know if I want all the girls who are going to dress as Katniss to feel like they can’t because they’re not a certain weight, and I can’t let that seep into my brain either.
Amanda Seyfried also speak on the matter, sharing on Twitter in 2014 that she “nearly lost several roles in my career because I was overweight. Wrong, America.”
Following her rejection from Southwest Airlines, Sánchez pursued a long career in journalism, while also becoming a seasoned helicopter pilot who still tries to fly at least three times a week. She also spends a lot of time with Bezos, who officially split from his wife of 25 years, Mackenzie, in 2019. In January of that year, it was revealed that he was in a relationship with Sánchez, who at the time was married. to Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of entertainment agency William Morris Endeavour.
Today, the couple, who have seven children between them, are learning to function as a blended family. Sánchez has nothing but praise for her man, whom she calls “awkward” and says he “makes me laugh all the time”.
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