Air India Cabin Crew Balk At BMI Test

Thursday, 28th March 2013 at 04:46am

Air India is courting controversy recently when it sent a memo to more than 40 of its cabin crew, most of them female, to undergo medical exam which includes checking their body mass index (BMI) before the month is over. The BMI Test is a method for estimating body mass of an individual.

Most of the flight attendants balked at the order unless they are enrolled first in a weight training program at a company's expense before any medical exam and BMI test are undertaken.

The flight attendants who will fail the test or whose BMI falls above the accepted standard as set by the airline, will be given up to six months to shape up. Otherwise, they will be taken off the in-flight service and they will be assigned elsewhere. Along with it, their flying allowance will also be taken off.

The state-owned Air India has a total of 4,000 flight attendants including those came from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. The national flag carrier is just one of the few airlines in the world who keep a flight attendant older than 40 years old but don't exceed 58 years. The age group (40+) comprise more than half of Air India's cabin crew who are still active in in-flight service.

In contrast, private Indian carriers maintain a younger crew, in their early 30s and below.

The airline already carried similar orders before where female flight attendants who refused to undergo medical exam were taken off their roster for in-flight duties as per memorandum.

Ironically, those who oppose the orders mostly come from the former Air India, whose clout is derived mainly from Maharashtra political party. Based on the earlier agreement signed between the AI management and the flight attendants in late1990s, flight attendants should not undergo medical test for BMI. The pre-merger Air India was also reminded that it used to pay its flight attendants Rs66,000 annually for gym membership. However, the company stopped the membership payment 15 years ago. Now, they demand for its reinstatement to oblige themselves to take the test.

The company official also revealed that a third of these female flight attendants are not on regular employment with the airline. He said that they can even set an age limit for them, between 35-40 years old, but they feel it's not fair enough to them (flight attendants). He said that the airline's demand is not farfetched, so there's nothing really to fret about.

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