An Indian court has ruled in favour of Air India's ban on overweight flight attendants on the grounds of health and safety. The Delhi high court was responding to a case filed by five ex-employees who had been grounded due to their weight. They are expected to appeal against the decision.
I don't think it's beyond the reach of the imagination to imagine that there might be a cutoff point in fitness terms after which someone cannot continue in their job. My cousin was grounded by United Airlines after he lost the tip of a finger in an accident and could no longer be 100% certain that he had enough dexterity in that hand to get the emergency exits open. So, without seeing said flight attendants, I'd be unwilling to judge Air India and the Delhi court too harshly.
Except that it's not the whole story...
According to the BBC:
"They also said that, in the highly competitive airline industry, an air hostess's physical condition and appearance played an important role in her overall personality."
Damn... my looks define my personality?! Notice that the 'fat' staff were not being pulled up because their uniforms were dishevelled or they didn't wash on a regular basis, but merely because it's acceptable to judge someone on their physical 'condition', apparently.
The airline also made it abundantly clear in their last recruitment drive that applicants with bad teeth or acne need not apply. I could probably cope with the teeth ruling (it's arguably unhygenic if by 'bad' they mean 'rotten') but I had no idea that a few spots made you incapable of giving a safety demonstration, efficiently evacuating an aircraft and providing good customer service.
But it's about health and safety, you understand. Not appearance.
Alexandra Roumbas is a writer and editor living in London. She contributes regularly to Dollymix.