They were asked to ‘shape up’ within the stipulated time frame and most of them responded to the new guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. 125 of them didn’t and they now face being grounded.
Yes, Air India may soon ground 125 of its ‘overweight’ cabin crew including airhostesses after they failed maintain the weight requirements prescribed by the DGCA.
The ‘overweight’ staff may either be offered ground duty or voluntary retirement, reports news agency PTI quoting Air India sources.
“Of these 600 cabin staff, around 125, including airhostesses, have failed to maintain the required Body Mass Index (BMI) or weight standards in the prescribed period. Now we have no option but to take them off permanently from flying duty,” AI sources were quoted by the news agency.
Under the DGCA guidelines, 18-25 Body Mass Index is considered normal for male cabin crew, while it is 18-22 for the female crew. For male crew to be considered overweight, he will have to have BMI between 25-29.9 while 30 and above would be deemed obese. While the same for females would be between 22 and 27. Anything above 27 for female crew would fall under the category of obesity.
All 600 cabin crew were given 18 months to achieve the required fitness, but 125 of them have failed to do so despite having ‘availed 18 months’ time leaving the airlines ‘with no choice but to replace them.’
The government-run airlines has 3,500 cabin crew staff with 2,200 of them being on permanent contract.