A former Air France flight attendant has had her breast cancer recognised as an occupational disease, an unprecedented ruling in the French aviation sector.
Now in remission, 59-year-old Sophie Lainault worked for the French airline for thirty years, from 1989 to 2019, first as a flight attendant and then as chief purser on long-haul flights. In total, she logged more than 12,600 flight hours, over 6,500 of them at night.
Night work, radiation and passive smoking
In early July, a court in Bayonne recognised the occupational origin of her cancer. In reaching its decision, the court notably took into account her regular night work, her exposure to ionising radiation and to passive smoking, as smoking was permitted on board Air France aircraft until 2000.
The court also noted that no genetic factor or element linked to lifestyle could explain the illness.
