In the opening scene of ABC’s newest fall drama, Pan Am, flight attendants check in for work. Everything from their identical blue suits to the luggage bags emblazed with the Pan Am logo is iconic of the early age of air travel. However, the premiere episode also reveals strict employment standards for Pan Am’s flight attendants that wouldn’t fly today.
Rigorous Inspections for Employee Attire
Prior to flight, the female employees file into a beauty inspection where their attire is inspected — one woman is singled out for a torn stocking and must borrow a pair from a co-worker. Each is also required to pass a weigh-in, and must attest to the fact that she is wearing a girdle. The consequences of failing the inspection are shown later in the episode, when lead stewardess Maggie Ryan, played by Christina Ricci, is shown to have been “grounded” for uniform violations. But were these requirements really enforced in real life?
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The answer is yes, according to former Pan Am flight attendant Bronwen Roberts, recently interviewed for msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin. “When you checked in for a flight you’d go into the office and there’d be a grooming supervisor on duty all the time,” said Roberts. “She could say, ‘Your hair is too long’ or ‘You are overweight’ and send you home until you fixed it. Just like the TV show, you could get grounded for uniform violations.”
Hiring Conditional on…Marital Status?
Hiring standards for Pan Am flight attendants were also strict. Roberts reports the 15 standards posted in employee advertisements included “excellent health,” and a “pleasant speaking voice.” You had to be single, added Roberts. You couldn’t be widowed, divorced, or separated. And you had to be under the age of 32. As for gender — there were no male flight attendants allowed. No question.
It was the gender stipulation that spawned a real-life lawsuit in 1967, when Celio Diaz Jr., a married father of two from Miami, tried to get a job as a flight attendant with Pan Am. The airline refused, stating that men need not apply for the position. In Diaz v. Pan American World Airways, Inc., Diaz argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade employment discrimination on the basis of gender (as well as race, religion and national origin). It took four years of legal proceedings before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately ruled that whether a job candidate was male or female was not a “bona fide occupational qualification,” (BFOQ), though by that time, Diaz had already exceeded another of Pan Am’s requirements: he was over the age of 32.
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Automatic Lawsuits
Now, many of Pan Am’s 1963 requirements would equal automatic lawsuits. If you walked into an interview today and asked:
- “Are you married?”
- “How old are you?”
- “Do you have a disability?”
…then you should prepare yourself for a compliance nightmare. These might have been legal in 1963, but they are no longer acceptable.
Need to brush up on the important questions you can’t ask when hiring? You can learn more here.