Aviablog

Air India has fired ten female flight attendants for being obese in the eyes of the Indian flag carrier. The airline states that an 18-year old, 1.52 metre tall flight attendant may weigh 50 kilos. This weight allowance is increased to 56 kilos for flight attendants up to 30 years of age.

The fired employees tried to fight the case in court, but without success. One of their claims was that Air India used to allow a margin of 3 kilos above the stated maximum but withdrew this from one day to the other.

A case like this could open a can of worms with regards to the stereotypical image of a female flight attendant, especially with Asian carriers. While companies are not supposed to discriminate, it is of course a well-known fact that looks are a very important factor for airlines during their flight attendants selection process. After all, they do represent the company and it is logical that companies prefer to have some eye candy to do this. Another company often critisised for "looks discrimination" is Singapore Airlines with its famous Singapore Girl. While many Western carriers employ older flight attendants, often because of the strength of unions more than anything else, you won't often see mature ladies with Asian carriers.

It's a never-ending story really, with on one hand women being expected to be slim and sexy and on the other have all the female features (i.e. curves), two aspects which don't always seem to go together... In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But the bottom line with airlines should of course be that the flight attendants are trained well and are capable of dealing with any emergency situation that may arise which, I am sorry to say, I don't think is always the case. Being pretty in today's society is being regarded as a very important aspect which undoubtedly opens doors in many occasions, but experience is also very important and many companies don't seem to realise this.