by Journalist and helicopter pilot Lauren Sánchez was once rejected by Southwest Airlines as a flight attendant because she was overweight.
In a new interview with WSJ magazineSánchez, 53, said she didn’t meet Southwest’s weight restrictions 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 weighed too much to work for them.
“At the time they weighed you and I weighed 121 pounds,” Sánchez explained to the WSJ. “They said, ‘You have to be 115.'”
Although Sánchez’s incident happened in 1989, Southwest’s rules have changed since then. On their current career page for prospective flight attendants, the airline asks that potential applicants meet certain specifics, including a minimum age of 20 and a “groomed appearance.”
“Weight should be in such a proportion to length as to maintain a neat appearance and not impede physical ability to perform all functions,” the website reads. Handlers must also be able to “lift 50 lbs. to 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!”
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 jobs 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 kids. I remember the biggest conversation was, ‘How much are you going to lose weight?’” she told Viola Davis during Variety’s Actors on Actors series. “Aside from being young and growing and unable to diet, I don’t know if I want all the girls who are going to dress up like Katniss to feel like they can’t because they aren’t a certain weight. And I can’t let that seep into my head.”
Amanda Seyfried too pronounced on the matter, sharing on Twitter in 2014 that she “almost lost several roles in my career because I was overweight. Wrong, America.”
After her rejection from Southwest Airlines, Sánchez embarked on 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 divorced his wife of 25 years, Mackenzie, in 2019. In January of that year, it was revealed that he was dating Sánchez, who was married at the time. to Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of the entertainment agency William Morris Endeavor.
Today, the couple, who have seven children together, are learning to function in a blended family. Sánchez has nothing but rave reviews for her husband, whom she calls “goofy” and says he “makes me laugh all the time”.
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