Stewardesses grounded because of overweight

[Sterre]

In India, overweight stewardesses aren't allowed to fly anymore.
Together, a few stewardesses went to court because last year they were grounded. According to their boss the women were too big for the aircraft and unfortunately the judge agreed.
Indian Airlines, the emloyer of the women, argumented the safety on board being endangered by overweight women.
One of the unfortunate women only weighed 2 kilograms too much and was fired after 25 yrs of service.
They rather recruit young and skinny girls with mini skirts and high heels...

Source: HLN
http://www.hln.be/hlns/cache/det/art_47 ... omArtikels

[ryanCX]

Its really sad for the woman who had 25 years of her service overlooked just because of 2 kgs. If there was no written contract, the termination should have been rendered unlawful. On-board safety? Who are they kidding? I do accept fitness is very important for cabin crew, but surely that wasn't the reason.
But the airline is in business to make money and sadly enough there seem to be enough shallow people who find cabin crew's marketable beside her competence.
To be quite honest, it seems Asia is the centre for such things. Looking at major western carriers, a good share of their crews are older than 35. I DO NOT want to generalise this to all asian carriers but several of them still do use the beautiful faces of their 'air hostesses' as a marketing tool. I find this very odd because I don't know of anyone who chooses an airline because the cabin crew are goodlooking.
What I'd like to see, if such practice is to continue, have signed contracts that cover the weight and age limits during recruitment. At least, the employees would know what kind of people they are working for.

[LX-LGX]

frequent flyers are happy and relieved when they see older crew (*) on board because they know what can eventually happen, they won't panic if the unforeseen happens, and they know what to do and what not to do. Experience pays off, specially up there.

(*) older crew: double the age of the youngsters.

[SN30952]

Its really sad for the woman who had 25 years of her service overlooked just because of 2 kgs.

Het artikel is uiteraard gebaseerd op de fantasie van een deskredacteur.... wat betreft hoge hakken en korte rokjes...

About the 2kilos now.
The 2 kilos are not overweight, but two kilos over the permitted margin.
People that carry overweight are not fit to perform live saving procedures.
I would not feel save ob board with a crew that is to heavy.
Why should it be allowed to one crew member to be too heavy for duty?
If for one than for everyone.
And in no time the aircraft is in danger.
Heavy people are prone to heart and blood pressure disorders. They are a safety risk.

What is the acceptable weight?
Ideal personal weight plus a margin (expressed in a coefficient eg. 1.09 , 1.20)
This lady weighs [Her ideal weight * coefficient] + 2kilos.

[sama91]

well, i think thats what they did with australian domestic airline 'Virgin Blue' couple years back, they were fired because of age i am not sure if it was due to the weight ~~

[Advisor]

AirIndia and Indian Airlines have a lot of heavy weights flying with them.

The union keeps scaring the airline and the international image of both AI & IC takes a beating.

Now with the merger on the cards, image approval is def on the cards.

Imagine flying and an heavy weight serving u........what a put off

[Stij]

In the old Sabena times it was even worse: apparently all the stewardesses as from a certain age had to pass an "estetical commision"who judged if they could continue flying or not.

Personally I don't care: the best and most attentive service I ever had was aboard a Lufthansa plane from Munchen to Shanghai and the "chef de cabine" was... well... even more overweight then myself and I'm not proud of my BMI (Body Mass Index, not the airliner )

In defence of the Asian Carriers: the fact that most of their cabin crew is very young is also related to the fact that they're the only generation that speak (pretty) fluently English. Especially in China this is the case. On the other hand, don't get me wrong: age before beauty is a principle they don't understand yet!

Cheers,

Stij

[carlcat]

Overweight looks to be a problem , and what about the age ? We had recently a stewardess on board born in 1933 .

The freshest was passed and had difficulty to work in the trolley .

Whats the most secure ? age or pounds ?