Too Fat To Fly? Indian Crew Members Fired

9 Female Flight Attendants Fired By Air India For Being Overweight

(AP)  Nine flight attendants who couldn't meet the weight standards of India's national airlines have been fired, an official said Tuesday.

The crew were significantly overweight and had been given time to lose weight but had not, said Air India spokesman Jitender Bhargava. He declined to give details on their weight.

A lawyer for the women blasted the firing. "The action is illegal and against the natural justice. I will soon file an application in the Supreme Court against the order," Arvind Sharma told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Air India has spent years fighting for the right to fire cabin staff it considers physically unfit. In 2006, it warned its nearly 1,600 cabin crew workers to shape up in two months or risk being assigned to ground duties- jobs that often pay less than those in the cabin. When the airline reassigned employees it deemed overweight, some of them took it to court.

Last year an Indian court ruled in favor of the airline, paving the way for the firings earlier this week.

The airline said that fitness and efficiency were the reasons for its weight standards, which it said were based on "scientific" combinations of height, age and gender. It did not give further details about how such standards were determined.

While all the cabin crew fired this week were women, Bhargava said there was "no gender bias. The rules are the same for both men and women."

India has laws aimed to protect against discrimination based on factors including caste, gender and religion, but no specific ones about weight.

Air India has tried in the past few years to change a public perception of its cabin staff as tired, unfriendly and inefficient.

India's airline industry has grown dramatically in recent years as rising incomes and loosened regulations put air travel within the reach of millions of new customers - and increasing pressure on Air India to remain competitive.

[wilkokke]

Have no clue about India laws that have to be used to settle the problem.
In the US the issue would be straightforward. An employee could be fired if the contract between the employee and the company specifies (as a condition for employment) that the employee must keep his/her weight below a specified limit. If there is no weight clause in the contract it will be difficult to get rid of Mrs./Mr. Porker. A company cannot unilaterally change the conditions for employment after an employee has been hired.

[ms1-1-1]

MatrixRX2003

this one''s for Monica Lewinski...

my breast implants from left to right

80 on the left
80 on the right
size tripple d

do I hear a hear ye hear ye

so i need the seat to the left to the right
hear ye hear ye

just for the implants
my rear is 36 wide from left to right
so i need the seat from east to west the rest is for the crew
the passengers
the cat

i need the space for deep south
hear ye hear ye

---
hey the airlines should start charging a fee for breast implants that occupy two seats left and right man and the stench of some people whew... ok i get that way after pinto beans ... heck I can clear out an entire embassy if given equal opportunity...

[ms1-1-1]

- just file a class action for billions you get your retirement, medical everything in a easy bundle...

next up, how fat are they, how tall, you do have to be able to reach up high to store luggage so forth, reach oxygen masks if needed so forth,

let''s see what the requirements are, and why were they hired in the first place if they were not within the standards?

its that easy...

[longtree-2009]

good move air india. now if airlines here in the usa would do the same as well as charge obese passengers for two seats.

[hatesthecolt]

"In the unlikely event the plane goes down over water, your stewardess can be used as a floatation device...."

Posted by earache4

LMAO (but only because my A is not huge!)

[matrixrx2003]

Your butt is wide, well mine is too
Just watch your mouth or I''ll sit on you
The word is out, better treat me right
Cause I''m the king of cellulite
Ham on, ham on, ham on whole wheat, all right

My zippers bust, my buckles break
I''m too much man for you to take
The pavement cracks when I fall down
I''ve got more chins than Chinatown

Well, I''ve never used a phone booth
And I''ve never seen my toes
When I''m goin'' to the movies
I take up seven rows

[exusmcsgt]

I could care less about the weight of the staff, personally.

What should be addressed are the wide-bodied passengers who can''t fit in the seat they bought and take up half of someone else''s as well.

Can''t fit in one seat? Buy two instead of using half of the seat I paid for.

[matrixrx2003]

Your butt is wide, well mine is too
Just watch your mouth or I''''ll sit on you
The word is out, better treat me right
''''Cause I''''m the king of cellulite
Ham on, ham on, ham on whole wheat, all right

My zippers bust, my buckles break
I''''m too much man for you to take
The pavement cracks when I fall down
I''''ve got more chins than Chinatown

Well, I''''ve never used a phone booth
And I''''ve never seen my toes
When I''''m goin'''' to the movies
I take up seven rows

[matrixrx2003]

Because I''m fat, I''m fat, sha mone
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it you know
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
And my shadow weighs forty-two pounds
Lemme tell you once again who''s fat

If you see me comin'' your way
Better give me plenty space
If I tell you that I''m hungry
Then won''t you feed my face

Because I''m fat, I''m fat, sha mone
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it, you know
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
Woo woo woo, when I sit around the house
I really sit around the house

You know I''m fat, I''m fat, come on
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it, you know it
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know, you know, you know, come on
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
And you know all by myself I''m a crowd
Lemme tell you once again

You know I''m huge, I''m fat, you know it
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, you know, hoo
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I''m fat, I''m fat, you know it, you know
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
And the whole world knows I''m fat and I''m proud
Just tell me once again who''s fat

[kamsack50]

What a contrast to Canada where there''s legislation coming to give a free seat to overweight people!

[rational_1]

First there was Con Air - now prepare for Lard Air!

[vcofreason]

Ok. Wow. If you are too fat to fit in the aisle and you a.r.s.e is squishing people''s faces while you help someone across the aisle, then yes, it''s time to lose a few. Just like the US businessman who fired the cancer stick suckers who wouldn''t quit. There is no need to burden an employer''s medical insurance system with lazy people too fat to function or choking up the air with their stink. Look at Japan''s business efforts with those overweight. The people there THRIVE off taking advantage of the programs offered. People in this world are such whiny, sue happy morons.

[matrixrx2003]

Porkers On the Plane.