A court in New Delhi ordered Air India Ltd. to reinstate three flight attendants it had fired for being overweight, saying the state-run carrier had not “applied its mind” in terminating their services.
“Accumulated medical wisdom would have us believe that weight brings with it several health related problems,” Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the Delhi High Court wrote in his March 31 order. “Does excess weight then, necessarily, in every situation, impede optimal performance? I believe the answer to this poser, would have to be in the negative.”
The order restores the services of the employees with full back wages from Air India, the carrier that’s trying to pare employee-to-aircraft ratio among steps to turn profitable. The carrier, which has not made a profit since 2006, is getting a bailout from the government totaling 300 billion rupees ($5 billion) through 2020 to operate in a market dominated by closely held IndiGo.
Air India in 2008 terminated the services of Sangita Garg, Punita Bakshi and Sona Chawla, all employed as ground service staff at the time, saying they failed to maintain weight within a prescribed limit, according to Delhi High Court documents.
02/04/14 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg
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“Accumulated medical wisdom would have us believe that weight brings with it several health related problems,” Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the Delhi High Court wrote in his March 31 order. “Does excess weight then, necessarily, in every situation, impede optimal performance? I believe the answer to this poser, would have to be in the negative.”
The order restores the services of the employees with full back wages from Air India, the carrier that’s trying to pare employee-to-aircraft ratio among steps to turn profitable. The carrier, which has not made a profit since 2006, is getting a bailout from the government totaling 300 billion rupees ($5 billion) through 2020 to operate in a market dominated by closely held IndiGo.
Air India in 2008 terminated the services of Sangita Garg, Punita Bakshi and Sona Chawla, all employed as ground service staff at the time, saying they failed to maintain weight within a prescribed limit, according to Delhi High Court documents.
02/04/14 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg
