Russian airline Aeroflot is allegedly banning ‘old, fat and ugly’ crew. Picture: Clay Gilliland Source: Flickr

One attendant Yevgenia Magurina complained: “They told us all that only the young and thin will fly abroad for Aeroflot”. However, the airline has denied the claims.

Another attendant claimed they were being weighed “like cows” by the airline which in Soviet times was the largest in the world.

The group of angry cabin staff have reportedly written to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to complain about their alleged treatment, supposedly part of a “rebranding” exercise.

Aeroflot has now released a statement saying: “These allegations are without foundation — Aeroflot does not discriminate based on age, sex, weight, appearance, religious or political convictions, or indeed any other grounds”.

Russian airline Aeroflot is currently rebranding itself. Picture: Steve BurtSource:Flickr

Calling themselves STS — the Russian abbreviation for “old, fat, ugly” — these flight attendants claim they are being prevented from flying on international routes, and instead given unfashionable domestic flights.

This would mean that the experienced and loyal crew lose money and miss out on layovers in exotic foreign destinations.

Ms Magurina she had been flying for 15 years and was a senior cabin crew member on international flights.

But she claimed that in August she was reassigned to internal routes because she was not thin enough under new rules.

She said: “We were all photographed en masse and measured — some were even weighed.

“This was done under the pretext of company rebranding and ordering new uniforms for staff.”

She stated: “My life changed in the middle of August.”

Others had suffered before that, she said.

According to the reports, some 400 flight attendants have been hit by the new rulings.

Ms Magurina added: “They stopped putting anyone on international flights if they are older than 40 or take more than a (Russian) size 48 (Australian size 16).”

She claims that not only is she forced to fly domestic routes to destinations like Siberia, but these are often night flights, or early morning departures, which means she and others cannot sleep properly before going to work.

She said: “When I asked what’s going on, they told me these are the new rules of the game and that I was removed from international flights because of my clothes size — it mustn’t be more than a 46, and I’m a 48.”

The airline has denied allegations of discrimination against cabin crew. Picture: Aleksander MarkinSource:Flickr

Igor Deldyuzhov, the president of a trade union representing flight crew, said there were many complaints of discrimination over age and appearance.

But it has been claimed that staff were scared to go to court because they have children and mortgages and fear losing their jobs.

In a statement released this afternoon, Aeroflot said: “Aeroflot therefore robustly denies these baseless allegations.

“Aeroflot does not place geographical restrictions on where its cabin staff may fly and it does not restrict flight time for members of staff based on age or any other physical attributes, such as appearance.

“Evgenia Magurina, serves passengers on international and domestic flights, including to the US (for which she has a valid visa).

“Aeroflot has thoroughly investigated Ms Magurina’s claims and has found no evidence to support her allegation.

“Hundreds of Aeroflot’s cabin crew are aged over 40 and regularly work on international flights to destinations in North America, Europe, Japan, China and elsewhere.

“The claim that the expert medical commission has been instructed to remove ‘old and ugly’ cabin crew from flight duties is untrue.

“In 2016, only four members of cabin crew aged between 56 and 60 failed mandatory medical examinations allowing them to fly, while 98 passed and continue to serve on flights both internationally and within Russia.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission.