Employers are adopting wellness programs to help workers maintain a healthy weight to prevent chronic diseases. The high cost of fuel is prompting an Indian airline to adopt a hiring requirement that looks at weight from another viewpoint.
GoAir had decided that to save on fuel, it will only hire flight attendants who are female and, therefore, weigh an average of 40 pounds less than males. Reports say that the airline is refusing applications from males, even though they could weigh the same as a woman.
The airline’s CEO said the hiring restrictions were the result of “looking at every possible way of cost-cutting to remain profitable.”
The airline is grandfathering in the practice, which will not affect the 40 percent of current flight attendants who are male.
Other airlines, such as Ryanair, have considered such a policy, and Turkish Airlines and Thai Airways recently gave attendants 6 months to diet down to comply with new weight maximums, according to the Huffington Post.
The airlines involved are international, but just think of all the kinds of discrimination lawsuits we’d see if these policies were in the United States.
Other sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com, www.guardian.co.uk