The Pakistani national airline has launched a crack down on cabin crew who are what it terms “excess weight”.
A circular issued to over 1,800 cabin crew working for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) says they have six months to slim down to required limits or face being grounded.
The order was issued on the 1st of Jan this year, by Aamir Bashir airlines general manager. He advises that crew with excess weight limits need to cut five pounds a month.
At present flight attendants who are 30 pounds over are still eligible for flight duty. PIA issued its overweight staff a weight chart for differing heights and body types.
It also said that all air base stations need to keep data of weight of the cabin crew for the management’s perusal.
Those who are on the “weight check” need to report monthly to a “grooming cell” in order to receive a clearance to fly. Around 100 PIA staff need to lose weight by July 1st to avoid grounding.
PIA officials called it a “regular, routine matter”, to ensure that their flight attendants were “slim, smart and fit”. The official also went on to say that nobody would like to have “shabby” or “obese” flight cabin crew.
In 2014 the India’s civil aviation order mandated a strict body mass index (BMI) but was quashed in 2018 after a backlash.
(The Pigeon Express Opinion– Putting tabs on the flying crew based on size is nothing but ‘body shaming’. As far as the airline crew are able to carry out all their duties there shouldn’t be an issue.)