AI to ground 125 overweight cabin crew
New Delhi, Sept 15: The national carrier Air India is getting ready to ground at least 125 cabin crew, majorly airhostesses, for being overweight and beyond the weight restrictions prescribed by the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), sources said. Air India could assign ground duty for some of them. Others could be told to take voluntary retirement, sources revealed. One year ago, Air India had given an opportunity to 600 cabin crew members, identified as overweight, to "shape up" if they wished to continue flight duty following DGCA's guidelines. Sources said, of the 600, at least 125 cabin crew, mainly airhostesses, failed to maintain the prescribed Body Mass Index (BMI) or weight standards in a given time frame. Therefore, the national carrier has no option but to take them off flying duty on permanent basis, sources confirmed.
