AN AIRLINE owned by Sir Richard Branson was found guilty yesterday of discriminating against older women who applied to become air hostesses.
Eight women aged between 36 and 56 took their case against the budget carrier Virgin Blue to a tribunal, after being put through job interviews that required them to sing and dance. One woman was told she lacked "Virgin flair".
"They were after a
certain look that appeals to Richard Branson," Theresa Stewart, 52, who had been a flight attendant for 27 years, told a hearing. "The assessment was designed to view a large number of people in a very short space of time to see how they look. If you had two beautiful, blonde girls, 25 and gorgeous, then they went to them like homing pigeons."
The women won their case, with one being awarded £2,000 for hurt and humiliation. Her fellow flight crew complainants will find out later how much compensation they will receive from the Virgin Blue, based in Australia.
One woman said she was overjoyed by the win, which showed "people over the age of 35 are not finished".
After applying for jobs with Virgin Blue in 2001, the women attended "assessment centres" where they were asked to sing, dance and perform. Despite all being experienced former flight attendants with the failed Australian airline Ansett, none made it past the first round.
Virgin Blue admitted that it had not hired any cabin crew over the age of 36 in a two-year recruitment drive because mostly young women had applied.
The tribunal backed the women's case, upheld all the complaints and awarded costs against Virgin Blue. "I find that the case of direct discrimination on the basis of age made by each of the complainants is made out," said Douglas Savage, a tribunal member.
Virgin Blue said last night that it was considering an appeal against the ruling.
Liam Kerr, an employment lawyer at Leddingham Chalmers in Aberdeen, said a similar case would be unlikely to be won in the UK, due to the lack of legislation in the area of age discrimination.
However, he said that a remedy would come next October, when new equality regulations come into force, which will include age. He said: "It may not be right morally, but there is currently no age discrimination legislation in the UK, although it will change next year."
A spokesman for the Transport and General Workers Union said: "It is a career that ought to be open to people of all ages and descriptions."
Virgin Atlantic, the UK-based sister company of Virgin Blue, said it had no rules regarding age for flight attendants. A spokeswoman said: "We don't have an upper limit at all. We have a minimum age limit of 19, but no upper age limit."
A British Airways spokesman denied that age was a consideration in its recruitment process. He said: "We have a very wide range of people coming into the cabin crew jobs."
Sir Richard's mother, Eve, was herself a stewardess, with British South American Airways after the Second World War. The airline was later merged with another carrier, which formed part of British Airways.
