A spokesman for Air India told the BBC that the hostesses were sacked after they were declared "medically unfit" to fly.I can't believe that a government carrier is doing this - bet this won't last and the government will have to reinstate them.
"They haven't been flying for two to three years for being exceptionally overweight," spokesman Jitendra Bhargava said.
He said that the women were between 11kg and 32kg overweight and that "all efforts to get them to reduce weight had failed".
Air India said safety was a "prime function" and that "being grossly overweight does have a bearing on reflexes and can impair agility required to perform the emergency functions".
A hostess with Air India, Sheela Joshi, who is not one of the nine dismissed, said those colleagues had received termination letters in the past three to four days.
"They were told there are no vacancies in ground jobs and since you are unable to lose weight, you have been terminated from service," Mrs Joshi told the BBC.
Arvind Sharma, a lawyer for the air hostesses, said he would try to get the dismissals revoked as part of the ongoing appeal in the Supreme Court.
Jan 6, 2009
Overweight? Air India does not need you
Air India fires "overweight" air hostesses and specifies it's due to safety reasons, reports BBC:
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Here's a way to prevent this from happening in other companies.
ReplyDeleteBusiness owners and HR professionals in the NYC area are invited to attend our lunch and learn event on 1/15 at 1pm at Club H Fitness.
Bring workout clothes and a lock and come early or stay late and exercise or just relax in the sauna and steam room.
Enjoy a healthy lunch and 100% of the proceeds benefit worthy causes (a $30 donation to one of four charities).
I have an idea about how to start off the year right that can help stimulate the nonprofit economy.
If you are in the area, come to our lunch and learn event on 1/15/09 in NYC called Capitalize on Wellness.
The speaker is terrific and will help educate attendees about healthy eating and exercise (eat anything but don't eat too much and do any kind of exercise - just do something you enjoy).
And she talks about incentives to reward healthy choices and behaviors (with lower deductibles, premiums, $$ for gym memberships etc.).
For an invitation and more details, please go to:
http://mailer.singernelson.com/m/15Jan09.pdf
To register and make your donation online:
http://www.singernelson.com/register.php
Thanks,
Jon Singer