Lydia Fillip, 60, has filed a lawsuit claiming SpaceX pushed her off executive Gulfstream flights in favor of younger women and fired her after she was diagnosed with stage-four melanoma.
The veteran lead cabin attendant, trained at the British Butler Institute of London, was hired in 2023 at $800 a day to work routes from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., to the company’s Texas offices. Fillip alleges her shifts were systematically slashed after Chief Pilot Conner Grey took over scheduling in February 2025, with less experienced attendants brought in to replace her on the most prestigious assignments.
The suit names two women who allegedly received “markedly more work than the other flight attendants.” Delainy Reyes, described as in her early 20s, and Stacy Brown, thirtysomething, were given the sought-after Gulfstream shifts that ferried SpaceX executives including founder Elon Musk, despite Fillip’s far greater private jet experience. The complaint accuses Grey of having a sexual relationship with Brown “that became increasingly obvious to the rest of the team throughout the course of their scheduled shift.”
Fillip also pointed to the July 2024 hiring of Kelly Doak, 22, as part of a pattern. Doak’s background included time as a door-to-door salesperson and exercise instructor, with no relevant aviation experience, according to the filing.
“Ms. Doak was one of a series of young conventionally attractive attendants Space X hired with little or no aviation experience and placed among the safety critical equipment of the cabin,” the complaint states.
The suit goes on to claim that Doak left a service cart unattended without its brakes in place, “a serious hazard capable of causing injury to passengers and crew.”
Fillip worked through immunotherapy treatment after her December 2024 diagnosis, continuing until April 2025 when she informed Grey she would need to step back for medical reasons. Doctors cleared her to return in May 2025, but she was only assigned a handful of trips through September before being terminated by phone.
During that call, Grey allegedly told Fillip that he “didn’t like her attitude” and ended by “coldly wishing Ms. Fillip good luck,” according to the lawsuit.
Both SpaceX and Grey are named as defendants. Fillip is seeking economic damages, pain and suffering compensation, and a jury trial.
The attendant’s career has intersected with celebrity before. Fillip was on the witness list for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s divorce case after witnessing an alleged altercation on their private aircraft, though she was never called to testify.
The California Post contacted SpaceX and Grey for comment.