British Airways suspend two staff for fat shaming stewardess in WhatsApp group
Two members of British Airways cabin crew have been suspended for fat shaming a colleague in a staff group chat.
The mocked stewardess was reportedly shown hurtful messages about her 15-stone weight that had been sent to a staff WhatsApp group she was not a part of.
A concerned colleague encouraged the unidentified Wiltshire woman in her 20s to report the incident to British Airways bosses after she became “scared” to go to work.
The members of cabin crew who allegedly made the cruel comments were immediately suspended and removed from the rota pending a probe into the incident.
Some services were consequently flown with a smaller crew than usual.
“The poor victim of the merciless fat jokes has been left utterly bereft,” a source told The Sun.
“She had no idea her colleagues had such disdain for her. The cruel comments left her scared to leave the house. She felt victimised. This was repugnant bullying.”
If the investigation finds the pair guilty of misconduct they will be fired from their roles with the airline.
Five other BA staff members involved in the group chat are also believed to be under scrutiny for their behaviour.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and always fully investigate any allegations brought to our attention.”
According to the British Airways website, cabin crew must pass a functionality check to work for the airline.
This stipulates that crew be between 1.575m and 2.01m tall to have a “vertical function reach of at least 2.01m” however does not outline a maximum weight limit for staff so long as they pass this and a diagonal reach check.
In March, two British Airways cabin crew were fired after sharing a racist video of them “imitating Asian passengers” to their Instagram stories.
In a screen recording posted to TikTok by @jadenguyen_2, Holly Walton was filmed by Lauren Bray making slant-eyed gestures and using a Chinese accent to say “Give me wine”.
The pair were sacked earlier this year with Ms Walton reportedly called back from a work trip to Cancun to face airline executives, and Bray seen in “floods of tears” following the meeting.
