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Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend Lauren Sánchez revealed that she was once turned down for a job as a flight attendant because of her weight.
The 53-year-old journalist and helicopter pilot recalled wanting to be a flight attendant when she was 18 but losing a job with Southwest Airlines in 1989 after failing a mandatory weigh-in.
“Back then, they weighed you and I weighed 121 pounds,” the Emmy winner recalled in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “They said, ‘You must be 115.'”
Jeff Bezos’ friend Lauren Sánchez has revealed that she was once turned down for a job as a flight attendant at Southwest Airlines because of her weight. (Getty/Getty Images)
Sánchez told the outlet that if this situation happened now, she would have reacted differently.
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The media personality said she would tell the airline, “I don’t want to be a stewardess. I want to be the pilot!”
Up until the 1990s, many airlines had strict height and weight requirements for flight attendants and mandatory weigh-ins.
According to Southwest Airlines’ careers site, flight attendant applicants’ weight must be “in proportion to height so as to maintain a neat appearance and not interfere with the physical ability to perform all job functions.”
In addition, “job seekers must be able to lift objects up to 50 pounds from the floor to shoulder height if required.”
A Southwest Airlines representative did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Sánchez later became a reporter and host at KTVK in Phoenix, Arizona and later worked at Fox Sports Net, Fox 11 and Extra in Los Angeles.
The 53-year-old journalist and helicopter pilot recalled wanting to be a flight attendant when she was 18 but losing her job in 1989 after failing a mandatory weigh-in. (Daniel Jack Lyons for WSJ. Magazine. / Fox News)
A native of New Mexico, whose parents were both pilots, she earned her helicopter pilot’s license in 2016. She later founded Black Ops Aviation, a female-owned aerial film and production company.
Sánchez said she strives to fly at least three times a week to stay up to date and often climbs into the cockpit to fly Bezos, 59, and her families around the world.
“I don’t know why more women aren’t doing it,” she told the WSJ.
The former “View” host explained that she started Black Ops Aviation when she realized the lack of other female-owned airlines.
“Less than nine percent of pilots are women,” she said. “That’s it! Of that percentage, even fewer are helicopter pilots. How many female pilots do you see in each film? What do you see? You see male pilots. And so [women] don’t realize they can do it.”
Sánchez said other women are surprised and impressed when they learn she is a pilot.
“You are shocked!” She said. “They say, ‘What? You’re such an asshole!’ And I want to say it’s really not that hard, I want more women to get involved.
Sánchez told the WSJ that she is very excited about her plans to lead an all-female mission into space on Blue Origin, scheduled to take place by 2024.
“It will be women who make a difference in the world and who have an impact and who have a message to send,” she said.
Five women will join Sánchez on the mission, but their names will not be announced until shortly before the launch date.
The former broadcaster said that working with Bezos on the Blue Origin mission and other projects is the “greatest experience I’ve ever had.” (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
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Although Sánchez said Bezos was getting his pilot’s license, she said the Amazon founder would not be joining her on the mission.
“As much as he wants this flight, I have to hold him back,” Sanchez said. “He’ll be cheering us all on from the sidelines.”
Sánchez and Bezos went public with their relationship in 2019, while both were divorcing former spouses Patrick Whitesell and MacKenzie Scott.
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The former broadcaster said working with Bezos on the Blue Origin mission and other projects was the “greatest experience I’ve ever had.”
“I’ve always had a career that was very separate from my partner,” she said. “I think now that I can work with my partner and be with him all the time … We love being together and we love working together.”