It takes more than the perfect smile and a trained accent to be a cabin crew member. Weight too is a qualification for in the last five years, Air India has asked 295 cabin crew members, mostly women, based at Chennai airport to lose weight.
An RTI application filed by OnlineRTI.com reveals that of the 295, four were taken off permanently from flying duty after they failed to maintain the required Body Mass Index (BMI) or weight standards prescribed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
BMI indicates `weight in proportion to height', which means whether a person is underweight, overweight and obese, or weighs appropriately for his or her height.DGCA guidelines say BMI of 18-25 is normal for a male cabin crew member while it is 18-22 for a female. A BMI of 2529.9 for male crew is treated as overweight and 30 and above is obese. BMI of 22-27 is overweight, and 27 and above is obese for female crew.
Statistics show that the number of Air India cabin crew members based in Chennai who have failed in BMI has come down from 65 in 2011-12 to 53 in 2015-16. However, the state airliner took off four crew members permanently from flying duty in 2014-15. The actual number of crew members who were taken off from the flying duty in airline industry could be higher as the rule is very stringent in private airlines. Air India officials said they declare `temporary unfit' the cabin crew who fail to reduce weight according to DGCA guidelines. If weight issues persist for more than 18 months, the crew would merit `permanent unfitness'.
"Such crew members will be assigned for an airport job which pays less than flying duty," said an official.
07/03/16 Christin Mathew Philip & V Ayyappan/The Times Of India
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An RTI application filed by OnlineRTI.com reveals that of the 295, four were taken off permanently from flying duty after they failed to maintain the required Body Mass Index (BMI) or weight standards prescribed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
BMI indicates `weight in proportion to height', which means whether a person is underweight, overweight and obese, or weighs appropriately for his or her height.DGCA guidelines say BMI of 18-25 is normal for a male cabin crew member while it is 18-22 for a female. A BMI of 2529.9 for male crew is treated as overweight and 30 and above is obese. BMI of 22-27 is overweight, and 27 and above is obese for female crew.
Statistics show that the number of Air India cabin crew members based in Chennai who have failed in BMI has come down from 65 in 2011-12 to 53 in 2015-16. However, the state airliner took off four crew members permanently from flying duty in 2014-15. The actual number of crew members who were taken off from the flying duty in airline industry could be higher as the rule is very stringent in private airlines. Air India officials said they declare `temporary unfit' the cabin crew who fail to reduce weight according to DGCA guidelines. If weight issues persist for more than 18 months, the crew would merit `permanent unfitness'.
"Such crew members will be assigned for an airport job which pays less than flying duty," said an official.
07/03/16 Christin Mathew Philip & V Ayyappan/The Times Of India
