Oh god, that is disgusting. The agility argument is totally lame. And I completely agree with Samhita: I don't know anyone who gives a damn what flight attendants look like.
Just one more blatant example of discrimination and sexism.

The flight attendants ought to start a martial arts training program, and invoke the rule, "if we're fast enough to beat the crap out of our managers, we're agile enough to be on the plane".

(I say this mostly tongue-in-cheek. I'm aware that's not a real solution. I just enjoy fantasizing about violent justice in cases like this.)

It really bothers me when i hear progressives expressing shock that their money is supporting a mysogynist corporate culture. Look, feminism and equality is either a priority in your life or it isn't. you say that your priority is just getting the cheapest fare. well, what you're telling the airline is this: "i don't care who you exploit or how you exploit them, i just want the cheapest plane ticket i can possibly get". and then, you get exactly what you paid for. part-time feminism.
did it ever occur to you to investigate which airlines don't discriminate (or at least aren't as bad)? and this sounds even worse because it's coming from someone with internet access. people with internet access typically are at least middle-class and can afford to spend a little more with businesses that are less exploitative. that is, if it ever occurs to you to do so.
speaking out is good, but we need to have an economic impact as well. i'm going to overgeneralize and oversimplify here, but: FEMINISTS DO NOT SHOP AT WAL-MART.

Ugh. That is utterly infuriating. I hope there is some way for them to take legal action or organize against this.

I’d like to see the management of the airlines forced to eat one meal a day under threat of loosing their jobs. Let’s see the perpetrators forced to obey their own warped beauty standards. Assholes.

What was it, 50 years ago that US flight attendants could only weigh so much? I remember this from my sociology class. It is absolutely ridiculous

I wonder what Indian law is on this issue? It's clear this wouldn't fly in the U.S., but that's no guarantee it's even vaguely illegal anywhere else. Does anyone happen to know what to expect from the courts?

I'm pretty sure that some form of it still exists in the US. Check out the application requirements for Continental (chosen at random, not because they're worse than any other airline; I think it's standard practice): http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/company/career/flightattendant.aspx

Scroll about halfway down and you'll see that one of the requirements is "Height and weight proportionate to maintain professional appearance."

Looks like this kind of discrimination has been occurring in US airlines far more recently than fifty years ago.

A quick Google search yields this link:
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/united_airlines.htm

Here’s a quick skim of the web page:
A discrimination suit was filed against United Airlines in 1992 due to requiring female flight attendants to weigh between 14 to 25 pounds less than their male counterparts of the same age and height. It was just settled in 2004 in favor of the employees. Unfortunately, because United file for bankruptcy, the airlines will pay the claimants only a fraction of the original settlement.

Just FYI: I do know several flight attendants working for various airlines in India, and they have similar weight standards for their male personnel too. Western media tends to highlight this as a 'women's' issue, because it fits well into their coverage of India.

I'm not completely sure yet of my stand on this, I do see the value of the 'image' argument where flying is still a novelty for most people and competition among airlines is fierce.

I called a buddy of mine who works for a large airline here in the states. He's a pilot for the commuter wing.

According to him, they won't hire flight attendants over XXX lbs because the extra weight can often translate into increased fuel costs.

You'll be happy to know that the pilots weight is monitored with that airline as well.

In the U.S.
You can have a weight limit if it's tied to performance. You can probably refuse to hire flight attendants who can't fit down the aisles comfortably; you can probably refuse to hire ones who can't be safely restrained in the standard seats, etc etc.

AFAIK, a U.S. company who is hiring people specifically to interact with the public tends to also get a bit of leeway to select folks who are conventionally attractive and "professional" looking. This would probably allow them to fire a flight attendant who was obese, but I doubt they could easily fire one who was merely non-sticklike

I can understand some sort of guideline. Weight does play into fuel costs, and there are fitness issues. (Yes, I know that bigger people can be fit, and I really don't care if my flight attendant is a little "overweight" as long as (s)he can perform CPR and knows all the safety procedures. That's not what I'm talking about.)

But then I read that the other airlines are putting their flight attendants in tight, short skirts and heels. Do they seriously expect me to believe a woman in a tight skirt and heels is better able to walk around during turbulence and take down a terrorist than one who is less than 2 kg over the weight limit? It's about as logical as that Missouri abortion/illegal immigration link.

a couple of thoughts...

one is that, when i'm getting sold on something from someone and s/he keeps changing his/her reasons, i start to think "am i getting hustled?"

from above:

more agile and better equipped to tackle terrorist incidents

from reuters:

Lawyers for the company, known as Indian Airlines until last year, say the women are contractually obliged to meet weight guidelines for health reasons.

from the guardian:

'Air hostesses are the airline's brand ambassadors. Passengers are held captive inside the aeroplane staring at the flight crew for hours; you form an opinion of the airline from them. It's a cosmetic issue, but it's crucial,' said a company lawyer.

as far as fuel costs are concerned, i find that argument quite specious. most of indian airlines planes are airbus a320-200 jets. completely unloaded, these planes weight 40,529kg. i dare say that a few kilos on a flight attendant's waist would make nary a dent in the overall payload of the plane.

finally, this is an issue that affects men. it affects women disproportionately more (only 20 of the 120-130 attendants discharged by IA were men), but it is an issue of import to both working men and working women... turns out feminism does help men, too!

peace and blessings

puck! long time no comment, my friend. we missed you!

There's an excellent round-up of the history of feminist gains by flight attendants at the Association of Flight Attendants. All of us have a lot to thank these women for -- I hope the flight attendants in India will acheive similar successes!

Granted, it's been a long time since I've flown commercial and I haven't been looking at the airlines' websites in the meantime, but I'm pretty sure they don't attach any pictures of the flight attendants to the listings. Someone please tell me if that's changed recently.

So yeah, this one gets a pretty strenuous "WTF?" sent its way.

unionstagehandj, what are you talking about? Samhita didn't say anything about not caring about whether or not workers are exploited: she pointed out that she buys airline tickets based on price, not on the bodies of the flight attendants, in direct contrast to the executive's claim that consumers won't fly with Air India if other airlines have prettier girls. Is there some particularly virtuous airline that you'd like to recommend? Or do you feel that middle-class people with internet access just shouldn't see their families? What, exactly, did your rant have to do with this post?

Scarlet you said "I don't know anyone who gives a damn what flight attendants look like" - sadly, I have seen many a traveller care.

In my old job I had to travel a bunch and in passing spent more than a few hours in terminals and business class lounges. On far more than one occasion I heard travelers (mostly men, although there was the occasional woman) complaining about the looks (or lack of) of this or that airlines crew. I was even advised on which airlines to fly to see pretty young staff (this was indeed a business man, in business class, in Asia).

I may be a bit sensitive to the whole issue as I am someone who would most assuredly be classed as obese.

FYI, beyond weight, I heard more travelers complain about the age of the crew. In fact I found it amusing that a European man I was once talking with in Heathrow only had one comment on Canada (my home) - "that Air Canada had old stewardesses".

They obviously have never seen a women's college softball game. Or basketball. Or lacrosse. Or soccer. Or, yes, women's rugby.

Morons.

aside from the fact that this isn't the first time that this has happened, i'm shocked that anyone finds this surprising as airlines regularly refuse to let paying customers on their flights because of their size. a really clear example of this is southwest's policy.

rae - Southwest doesn't prohibit fat flyers. It simply says that if you take up more than one seat, you have to pay for more than one seat. Seems reasonable to me.

"Granted, it's been a long time since I've flown commercial and I haven't been looking at the airlines' websites in the meantime, but I'm pretty sure they don't attach any pictures of the flight attendants to the listings. Someone please tell me if that's changed recently." - Dan

http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/index.jsp

Singapore Air is renowned for their beautiful stewardesses (I have to take this on reputation as I have never been). I doubt this hurts sales.

Here is another example from the site.

http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/exp/new/firstclass/seatfeatures.jsp

I want one of these chairs for my apartment.

I could be mistaken, but I believe Air India is a government-run company. I once sent them an angry e-mail after arriving from Delhi with a bag full of broken tabla and demolished flutes.

I once complained to my samosa man at the Punjabi Deli on Houston St. about their lack of response, and he said that was normal because it was a government business (kind of like Air Lingus in Ireland). "Indian government make no response, same for Air India."

But Air India actually boasts about having 17 female pilots and they once had a plane fly from Mumbai to Singapore with only women on board. They've made strides in the past, but it's pretty absurd that they'd try to curb attendant weight now.

Oh God. "Held captive" looking at your flight attendants? Um... ever heard of bringing a book on the plane? Ever heard of in-flight movies?

And, hell, if being "held captive" looking at ugly people is a problem, how is Larry King still on television? And why can't my boss be better-looking? And with a sexy foreign accent and molded pecs to go with it? I'd totally do better work for that guy.

peace and blessings--puckalish

Where have you been, dahlinks? I've missed your commenting.

And, hell, if being "held captive" looking at ugly people is a problem, how is Larry King still on television?

Larry King seems like the ultimate corporate suckup. He has this sour, disagreeable look when a guest says something progressive. His lips almost curl up. Why he and so many other newsmen are still on boggles the mind.

If being "held captive" looking at ugly people is a problem, how is Larry King still on television?

Whenever a guest says something progressive, he also gives them a blank stare and says, "Really?"

Hi, Samhita.

Thought you'd want to know that Laurie Edison and I blogged three of your posts (and one other Feministe post) in the 27th Carnival of Feminists, now up on Body Impolitic.

Thanks for giving us such great material!