by Journalist and helicopter pilot Lauren Sánchez was once rejected as a flight attendant by Southwest Airlines because she weighed too much.
In a new interview with WSJ magazineSánchez, 53, shared that he didn’t make the cut for Southwest’s 1989 weight limits.
After leaving home at age 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 weighed too much to work for them.
“Back then, they weighed you and I weighed 121 pounds,” Sánchez explained to the wsj extension. “They said, ‘You must be 115.'”
Although Sánchez’s crash occurred in 1989, Southwest’s rules have changed since then. On their current career page for prospective flight attendants, the airline requires prospective job applicants to 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 tidy appearance and not impede physical ability to perform all job functions,” the website reads. Assistants must also be able to “lift 50 pounds to shoulder height among other physical qualifications.”
Looking back, Sánchez says she knows what she would say to the airline these days if it were turned down: “I don’t want to be a stewardess. I want to be the pilot!”
While Sánchez was looking for a role as a flight attendant, it’s not uncommon for women to be criticized for their weight when looking for work in Hollywood and beyond. Jennifer Lawrence was previously asked to lose 10 pounds for her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. However, she refused to do so.
“Those books were huge and I knew the audience was made up of children. I remember the biggest conversation being, “How much weight are you going to lose?” she told Viola Davis during Variety’s Actors upon actors series. “Besides me being young and growing and not being able to diet, I don’t know if I want all the girls who are going to dress up as Katniss to feel like they can’t because I’m not a certain weight. And I can’t even let it penetrate my brain.
Amanda Seyfried too spoke on the matter, sharing on Twitter in 2014 that he “almost lost several roles in my career because I was overweight. Wrong, America.”
After his rejection from Southwest Airlines, Sánchez went on to a long career in journalism, even becoming an accomplished helicopter pilot who still tries to fly at least three times a week. He also spends a significant amount 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.
These days, the couple, who have seven children between the two of them, are learning to function with a blended family. Sánchez has nothing but raves about her man, whom she calls “goofy” and says he “makes me laugh all the time.”
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