Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Creating a Shangri-La in the sky but at what cost ???


BEIJING -- Fly on a Chinese airline and you will be pampered by flight attendants who look eerily alike. They are young, beautiful and practically the same height.

This is not a coffee-tea-or-me stereotype but the result of a rigorous selection process that is much more old-fashioned beauty pageant than equal-opportunity job interview.

If you're older than 24, don't bother applying.

If you aren't at least a couple of inches taller than the average Chinese woman, go home.

And if your legs are even remotely similar to tree trunks, don't call us, we'll call you.

Sound like a throwback to the dark ages of workplace discrimination? Here, in the world's fastest-growing aviation market, prohibitive entry barriers are not only tolerated, they're flaunted as symbols of excellence.

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