A group of aspiring flight attendants were ‘forced to strip down to their underwear’ during an interview selection process in Spain to work for Kuwait Airways.

Cabin crew recruitment specialist, MECCTI, advertised the flight attendant openings in Madrid on behalf of Kuwait Airways. MECCTI claim to be global leaders in cabin crew recruitment with a network across 22 countries. The company’s homepage is headlined ‘Dedicated to Diversity’.

A number of women told El Diario that the interview took place in a room at the Meliá Barajas hotel near Madrid airport. The women said that throughout the interview process, there were offensive comments made with statements such as ‘We don't like your smile’ and ‘you have the roller coaster body’, by the recruiters.

InSpain reports that the women had had to unbutton their shirts and pull up sweaters and skirts to perform tasks in their underwear, which would give the recruiter a good look at their bodies. This practice that is completely illegal in Spain, and many other countries.

One of the candidates said the recruiters turned away candidates who spoke English well.

Meanwhile, a candidate also said that three men had attended the event, but they were turned away immediately and told that the only men the airline recruited were from Kuwait.

According to The Telegraph (paywall), one of the women interviewed, identified only as Bianca, a 23-year-old flight attendant, reportedly said that the first woman who entered the room emerged ‘in tears’ and said she had been made to strip to her underwear.

Bianca claimed that when she went in, the woman asked her to pull up her dress, explaining that she was checking for ‘scars, birthmarks and tattoos’.

“I pulled it up a little bit, to just below my knee, so she pulled it up to my panties. My dress had a zipper down the back and she asked me to pull it down to my waist and I was standing there in my bra,” said Bianca.

Another candidate said she ended up wearing only her bra, skirt and tights, adding that she ‘felt like an animal in the zoo’.

One candidate also said that some of the women were asked if they would be willing to lose weight and others whether they would ‘eat more’ to gain weight.

According to Meccti’s advertisement for the event, candidates had to be more than 5ft 2in tall, with their height and weight ‘in proportion’, as well as have ‘excellent overall presentation’.

The recruiter also informed the applicants that, if selected, they would have to pay €1,900 as a guarantee.

Spain’s labour inspectorate has opened an investigation to see if the recruiter’s interview process would be considered a crime. InSpain noted that none of the candidates involved have filed a complaint

Neither Kuwait Airways nor Meccti have issued any responses to various media enquiries.