Air India grounds 130 flight attendants for 'being overweight'

Air India grounds 130 flight attendants for 'being overweight'
Air India grounds 130 flight attendants for 'being overweight'


Air India To Ground 125 Flight Attendants If They Don't Get In Shape
Air India To Ground 125 Flight Attendants If They Don't Get In Shape



Air India has grounded 130 crew members because they have been deemed overweight.

The flight attendants failed to maintain the Body Mass Index (BMI) imposed by the country's aviation regulator.

See also: Airline to weigh passengers before allowing them board

See also: Widower settles lawsuit with airlines after ill wife was deemed 'too fat to fly'


India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCO) issued guidelines in 2013 requiring flight attendants to undergo routine medical checkups, including an evaluation of their body mass index, or BMI, reports the Daily Mail.

Crew members with high BMIs are given six months to slim down or face grounding.

Speaking to CNN, Air India spokesman GP Rao said it was an safety issue.

"It is an opportunity for them to bring themselves back to the (required) fitness level. If they cannot because of any medical reasons, they will be offered ground duties," he said.

"It's a safety issue. The crew has to be fit to be able to carry out their inflight duties, including emergencies."

The issue of weight between cabin crew and the airline has been a 10-year battle.

Last year, Air India tested 3,500 employees and determined that 600 were overweight or obese. They were told to lose weight by exercising more and changing their diet and lifestyle, while undergoing clinical examinations.

But an Air India official told the Telegraph:"About 130 of them failed the reassessment. We are now declaring them permanently unfit for their job as flight attendants."

The decision has been blasted as "sexist" and "ridiculous".

According to the Independent, aviation industry consultant Mark Martin: "This move to impose a certain BMI, ignoring experience and other performance parameters, is immature, misogynistic and shockingly sexist. We seem to have lost the plot on what is needed from flight attendants."



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