Nine former flight attendants involved in an ongoing lawsuit with Air India regarding weight standards have been fired from the airline only months after losing a crucial legal ruling.
The employees, all of whom are reportedly between 24 and 70 pounds above the airline’s weight limits for in-cabin staff, had been removed from flight attendant duty over the last three years and shifted to ground roles.
They were told they could have their previous jobs back if they managed to lose weight.
They decided to fight the re-assignment in court instead, and sued the airline for discrimination.
However, last June the court ruled in favor of Air India, which claims that overweight flight attendants present a health hazard, and are not able to function as quickly, efficiently and safely as thinner ones.
At the time the flight attendants were fired last week, an appeal against the June court ruling was still pending. Though Air India simply told the employees that there were no ground jobs available for them, one woman said that the terminations smacked of retaliation. A lawyer for the group said he would challenge them as part of the ongoing appeal.
One factor that may have played a part in the court’s decision is that India does not have laws that protect against discrimination based on weight. However citizens are legally protected against bias based on caste, gender and religion. Air India has strict medical and weight requirements for in-cabin staff, though is not known exactly how the airline determines its standards for fitness and an appropriate weight-to-height ratio.
Though Air India denies that gender or weight bias played a part in its decision, the Associated Press reports that the airline has been trying for years to earn the right to fire cabin staff it deems physically unfit while simultaneously trying to combat a reputation for having inefficient, unhelpful and tired staff— two goals that may well go hand-in-hand.
India’s airline industry has become fiercely competitive over the last few years, with new upstart airlines such as Kingfisher trying to entice customers away from the 60-year-old behemoth Air India by offering younger, attractive cabin staff clad in Western skirts and suits instead of traditional saris.
Related Links: USA Today, Associated Press, BBC
By Karen Elowitt for Peter Greenberg.com.
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