[5]One example of bona fide occupational qualifications are mandatory retirement ages for bus drivers and airline pilots, for safety reasons.
While religion, sex, or national origin may be considered a bona fide occupational qualification in narrow contexts, race can never be a BFOQ.
Bona fide occupational qualifications generally only apply to instances in which the BFOQ is considered reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a particular business.
Mere customer satisfaction, or lack thereof, is not enough to justify a BFOQ defense, as noted in the cases Diaz v. Pan Am.
World Airways, Inc.[7] and Wilson v. Southwest Airlines Co.[8] Therefore, customer preference for females does not make femininity a BFOQ for the occupation of flight attendant.