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Air India Fires 'Exceptionally Overweight' Flight Attendants
January 06, 2009 1:28 PM
ABC News' Stu Schutzman reports:
It's literally "the battle of the bulge" says the Times of London, as Air India squares off against its flight attendants deemed unable to meet "company weight restrictions"...translation, they're considered too fat to fly. India's largest airline announced today it has fired ten of them, all women, for being "exceptionally overweight."
Air India began grounding "fat" flight attendants last summer empowered by India's Supreme Court. The Justices (12 men), in their infinite wisdom, backed the airline's contention that a flight attendant's physical appearance was part of her public "personality". Lawyers for the women offered the old fat-but-fit argument, the Justices would hear none of it, instead ruling "...there is no scope for any debate on overweight people." Ouch!
Air India's guidelines use a weight-to-height-to-age formula. An 18 year old woman who is 5 foot tall can weigh no more than 110 pounds. For a 25 year old, the limit would be 123 pounds. The airline says it warned its overweight employees to lighten up or else, some of whom it says tipped the scales as much as 70 pounds over the limit.
One of the women, fired after 27 years with the airline, says she has tried to diet but it's a struggle. "It's ridiculous," she told the Times, "weight is not an infectious disease." But it is, apparently, to Air India which is getting stiff competition from other regional carriers who are employing noticeably young, svelte, good-looking flight crews.
Air India may indeed have an image problem, but not because some flight attendants are a few pounds overweight. Whatever the opposite of PC run amok is, they seem to have captured it. Imagine anything remotely like this happening here in the US...never fly.
January 6, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (4)
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All Asian airlines have the same kind of mentality and you would never see someone in their forties or overweight on these airlines. You can see the distinct difference when you board a European, Australian or American flight. Even the middle eastern airlines hire younger girls from other nations as stewardesses.
Posted by: Karen | Jan 6, 2009 2:06:52 PM
New slogan
Air India, taking the Jumbo out of jet!
Posted by: Curly | Jan 6, 2009 2:11:48 PM
Shame on Air India. They now have a PR problem.
I also think some of these people who write in have a problem.
I won't name names.
Posted by: everybody has an opinion | Jan 6, 2009 2:34:09 PM
About time a company stucj to its guns. Have you ever negotiated the aisles of an airplane? I am not overweight and it is difficult. Sorry, but if a company wants small women as flight attendants, so be it. You don't like it? Don't fly Air India.
Posted by: stop2think | Jan 9, 2009 8:32:55 AM
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