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Airline boss sacked over 'disgraceful' post about cabin crew on flight

An airline boss has reportedly been sacked after appearing to fat-shame another carrier’s cabin crew who were working on her British Airways flight.

Katarzyna Richter, director of LOT Polish Airlines,‎ was believed to have taken secret pictures of male and female workers while travelling on the British Airways flight before posting them to Facebook.

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The Polish native then reportedly wrote comments attacking the workers for their weight and teeth.

Katarzyna Richter‎ has since been stood down by airline LOT Polish Airlines, and apologised for the comments. Source: Katarzyna Richter‎
Polish airline boss Katarzyna Richter‎ has been stood down after fat-shaming another carrier's workers. Source: Katarzyna Richter‎

Translated into English, screen grabs of the post read: "Today, my attention was drawn to grooming and appearance of British Airways cabin crew members, unpolished shoes, holes in tights, too tight uniform, double chin, rotten and uneven teeth, messy hairstyle."

Ms Richter, who identified herself as Operations Director for LOT Polish Airlines Cabin Crew at the time of the posts, appeared to also question if the employees were as sloppy about their duties as she perceived them to be with their grooming.

The airline boss then asked passengers if they judged flight attendants by the way they looked.

Polish airline boss Katarzyna Richter‎ appeared to fat-shame British Airways cabin crew on Facebook, who were working on her flight. Source: A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge / Facebook
Katarzyna Richter‎ appeared to fat-shame the British Airways cabin crew on Facebook. Source: A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge / Facebook

Calls for airline boss to be sacked after ‘fat-shaming’ comments

British Airways employees lashed out at Ms Richter, reportedly telling The Sun: “She must be sacked for fat-shaming BA crew while going about their duties.”

Others have called her “a disgrace” to the aviation industry.

British Airways defended its staff in a statement to The Sun.

“We are proud of our cabin crew and the exceptional service they deliver to our customers every day,” an airline spokeswoman said.

Following backlash from the post, LOT Polish Airlines said it had sacked Ms Richter, describing her commentary as “unacceptable”, adding that she “crossed the ethical legal boundaries”.

Katarzyna Richter suggested the British Airways cabin crew on her flight were overweight. Source: Facebook
Katarzyna Richter suggested the British Airways cabin crew on her flight were overweight and poorly groomed. Source: Facebook

Ms Richter, who also runs a consultant company called Dealwithculture, has since removed the post and issued her own apology, The Sun reports.

“I would like to apologise very much to the British Airways crew and to everyone affected by I regret my behaviour – I should not judge the competence and appearance of employees of another line I’m sorry again,” she wrote.