An airline has many things to consider when hiring flight attendants, including background, experience, and references. In AirAsia’s office in South Korea, a video audition—voted upon by the public online—will also be taken into consideration.
As part of its recruitment efforts, the office said this week that flight-attendant applicants should send a one-minute introductory video and demonstration of an in-flight announcement, Chosun Ilbo reported earlier this week. The office would then post the video to Naver, a popular web portal in South Korea, for public voting.
Predictably, the airline was criticized for a process that would likely put the focus more on a candidate’s physical appearance and less on occupational qualifications. Most airline attendants are female.
The airline explained that it was merely trying out something new in the hiring process, and that a successful video wouldn’t guarantee employment.
“The video audition is used only to identify applicants aligned with AirAsia’s corporate values,” an AirAsia spokesperson told Quartz. “They will still have to fulfill strict criteria laid out in our existing cabin crew recruitment guidelines. On top of that, successful applicants must undergo a rigorous training process that covers all aspects of operational safety before they can serve. At no stage does AirAsia compromise on the safety and comfort of our guests and crew.”