Qatar Airways’ Alleged Rejection of Asian Cabin Crew Applicants

I have always known Qatar Airways as an airline plagued with complaints about how they treat their employees. While social media might give you the impression otherwise, the stories I receive from former Qatar Airways cabin crew tell a different story. Recently, I saw a post from A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge about a mass rejection of Asian and African cabin crew applicants at Qatar Airways, who had passed the recruitment process but were made to wait for more than half a year, only to be rejected later on. While I was not surprised, I wanted to dig deeper into this alleged mass rejection and discrimination against Asian and African cabin crew applicants.

After a few hours of reading the post from A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge, I began receiving messages from some cabin crew applicants at Qatar Airways who lost all their chances of earning their wings after months of waiting. Most of them were devastated as, according to them, they were made to wait for six months or more, only to be rejected later on.

Waiting for 6 Months and More for Nothing

A Filipino cabin crew applicant (name concealed) shared, “Qatar Airways implied employment by asking us to process several pre-employment requirements, including providing personal documents, passport copies, and background pictures. For many of us, this process led to the issuance of a work visa, which is a crucial step in Qatar Airways’ recruitment system. As per their usual procedure, a visa is only issued to candidates who have successfully passed all stages and are considered for employment.“

Another Filipina cabin crew applicant shared, “We were accepted and passed the final interview in January, received our visas, and were almost ready to join. However, after six months, on July 28th, they sent out rejections worldwide. They stated that they no longer need cabin crew. They sent rejections even to those who had a date of joining and an electronic offer.“

I also received emails from cabin crew applicants of other nationalities. A male cabin crew applicant shared, “I applied for a cabin crew position in August 2023, then I received a recruitment invitation in November 2023. I passed the English test, physical test, and face-to-face interview. Then, I was assigned a coordinator in December 2023. I was asked to send my blue background full-length picture, which I did, and passed that as well.“

“The coordinator from Qatar Airways asked me to amend the name on my passport. For this, I had to go to Bangladesh (my homeland) and spend lots of money to amend it. I submitted my amended passport in March 2024. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways sent me a few catalogs and a book to study about the company and cabin crew basics. I also received a welcome email from Qatar Airways. They also made me sign a service undertaking letter,” he continued.

“Since I submitted my amended passport, I stopped hearing from them. So, I started to email and call them many times in April 2024 to ask for an update on my application. They told me my application was under process and asked me to wait and not to apply for any other positions at Qatar Airways.” This male applicant received a rejection notice on July 28, 2024.

Blatant Discrimination

According to these applicants, Qatar Airways made them wait for more than six months, only to reject them later on, allegedly in favor of Europeans. An Asian cabin crew applicant shared, “If Qatar Airways decided to stop hiring Asians and Africans, which is within their rights, they should have at least honored those of us who were already in the final stages of hiring. Instead, they made us wait for nine months, only to reject us while swiftly accepting others within just one or two months. This isn’t a company strategy—it’s blatant discrimination, preferring one race over another.“

“There are 350+ candidates from South Korea, Algeria, Malaysia, Tunisia, Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, etc., who have been waiting for more than eight months. Some who even received offers were rejected on July 28th as soon as Qatar Airways’ assessment day finished in Europe,” she said.

However, employees and “disciples” of the airline, particularly their cabin crew, were quick to defend their beloved airline, saying that the move was not discriminatory. Instead, the company was balancing out the nationalities after hiring too many Asians in time for the 2022 FIFA event.

There were more messages like this that reached me, so I decided to also look into the side of Qatar Airways and talk to people familiar with the application process of the airline.

Side of Qatar Airways

According to my sources, who are knowledgeable about Qatar Airways’ cabin crew recruitment process, the only time one is guaranteed deployment is when they receive a DOJ or date of joining. Prior to that, nothing is guaranteed, and Qatar Airways can still turn down your application due to operational considerations and manpower requirements. Also, since Qatar Airways is a multinational airline, they have to balance the different nationalities. In 2022, the airline hired too many Asians, Indians, and Africans, according to the source.

Additionally, the source said that an electronic offer or “e-offer” is conditional. Qatar Airways is very hands-on with the screening and selection process, but passing the screening process does not guarantee that you will automatically move on to training. The source also said that some people who are already deployed to Doha are still sent home after failing the final medical check in Doha.

Regarding the issue of discrimination, the source said that there was no discrimination. Instead, the airline was just balancing the number of nationalities. It was an operational requirement.

A female cabin crew applicant, however, lamented, “For such a big company, this behavior is unacceptable. They should have communicated their decisions professionally. At the very least, they could have told us they’d reconsider in the future instead of outright rejecting us. Those of us with coordinators should have received personal emails, not a generic rejection. We had final interviews, visas, and coordinators. We made life plans and told our families, only to be met with huge disappointment and sadness.“

“It was a prolonged period of uncertainty and unfulfilled promises, leading to emotional, physical, and financial distress for many of us. The issued visas and offers implied a level of guarantee, making the final abrupt rejections without explanation particularly unjust and discriminatory,” said another cabin crew applicant.

My Personal Take

Granting that Qatar Airways was within the bounds of labor laws and that there was really no discrimination, there were still two things they lacked, and I think these would really matter a lot: humanity and transparency.

While Qatar Airways had every right to reject the applications of these cabin crew applicants, given that there were still no contracts signed and they were just in the middle of the pre-employment requirements, they could have been more transparent with these Asian and African cabin crew applicants who were merely requesting clear status updates on the progress of their application. Qatar Airways could have been more humane (if they have that) to these applicants, understanding that these cabin crew applicants also have plans and had placed their trust in the airline.

I mean, does it take more than six months to determine that the airline is overstaffed with Asians and Africans? While yes, the airline reserves the right to stay silent and not explain things to the cabin crew applicants, they could have had the heart to understand that all these applicants needed were clear answers on the status of their employment so they could move on with their life plans and goals. Many of these cabin crew applicants missed other opportunities just to hold on to their goal of joining Qatar Airways. I am sure if the airline had been a bit more transparent earlier on with these cabin crew applicants, we would not be seeing an issue like this.

According to applicants, Qatar Airways told them they were “overstaffed” (ahem, yeah right), hence, they do not need more cabin crew.

Granting that there was nothing wrong with the rejection of the cabin crew applicants from Asia and Africa by Qatar Airways, as these decisions were based on the operational requirements needed by the airline, what made it all wrong was the total lack of transparency and humanity, which resulted in these cabin crew applicants waiting for 6 to 12 months for nothing. Yes, Qatar Airways does not owe these applicants an explanation, but then again, a little act of kindness and transparency goes a long way for these people who wanted to join the airline.

Was there discrimination? I’ll leave that for you to judge. For these cabin crew applicants though, it was not about the rejection. It was about the issue of lack of transparency which resulted to them waiting for more than six months, only to be rejected later on.

So, is it still worth applying to Qatar Airways as a cabin crew? Well, I’ll leave that decision to you. But keep in mind that there are other global airlines in the Middle East like Emirates, Etihad, and Saudia. Take it from there.

As for Qatar Airways, exercising a little compassion, kindness, and transparency will not diminish their title as the World’s Best Airline of 2024.