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Weight no fitness criterion, say grounded air-hostesses

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the National Aviation Company of India, formerly Indian Airlines, on a special leave petition challenging the policy of grounding of air-hostesses for overweight. It is returnable in four weeks.

Sheela Joshi and four others filed the SLP against the June 4 Delhi High Court judgment upholding the grounding policy.

When counsel Arvind Sharma, appearing for the petitioners, sought an interim stay of the judgment stating the High Court did not go into the core issue, Justice Tarun Chatterjee said, “If we find merit, we will restore your service.”

The Bench, which included Justice Aftab Alam, listed the matter for further hearing after six weeks.

The rules prescribe different weight limits according to height and age. For an 18-year-old air-hostess who is 152 cm tall, the maximum weight permissible is 50 kg. For air-hostesses in the age group 26-30 and 152 cm tall, it is 56 kg. The petitioners contended that there was no connection between weight and performance of duty when one was medically fit. Weight was not a fitness criterion.

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