Weight discrimination OK’d for Indian air hostesses

In what is perhaps the most egregious case of job discrimination the world has ever seen, an Indian high court ruled today that Air India, the state-owned airline, could deny employment to would-be female flight attendants if they were overweight. The Times reports: In the highly competitive industry of civil aviation, the company has to ...

In what is perhaps the most egregious case of job discrimination the world has ever seen, an Indian high court ruled today that Air India, the state-owned airline, could deny employment to would-be female flight attendants if they were overweight.

In what is perhaps the most egregious case of job discrimination the world has ever seen, an Indian high court ruled today that Air India, the state-owned airline, could deny employment to would-be female flight attendants if they were overweight.

The Times reports:

In the highly competitive industry of civil aviation, the company has to focus on the personality of its employees," the ruling said. "By the very nature of their jobs, their overall physical personality is one of the primary considerations."

Another reason for the ruling, according to the court, was the link between weight, athleticism, and the ability to handle emergency situations. While this news did ignite an uncanny barrage of puns and wisecracks in news headlines — "Air hostesses suffer heavy defeat in India," "India grounds ‘fat’ air hostesses," "You’re too fat to fly, court tells hostesses" — I think this has to rank up there as one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.

How would it be enforced? Is it like boxing where the would-be flight attendents arrive for a weigh-in, then if they don’t make the cut, they spit into a cup and jog around the terminal a few times? Will Air India start sponsoring workshops that encourage anorexia? Instead of passing through security to board their flights, will the hostesses have to step on a scale in the concourse?

As an interesting side note, this decision comes four years after Air India also told their female employees that acne was not allowed.

I wonder what the safety concerns were there.

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