Air India Faces Flak Over Putting Flight Crew on Low-Fat Diet

A novel initiative undertaken by the Director (operations) was announced to the staff in a memo where the revision of the inflight food menu was on the agenda. 

An airline statement read, &ldquoSpecial low-fat diet meals have been worked out on a day-wise basis in order to provide light and healthy meal with a home (Indian) touch&rdquo. With a typical meal consisting of a mushroom egg white omelette, vegetarian oats and besan chilla. Principally dishes that are &ldquolow on cholesterol and fat&rdquo as proclaimed by an Air India representative. 

Furthermore, this recent measure has been called into question following a protracted history of cabin crew weight concerns, just as recently as 2015 Air India made international headlines when it grounded 130 of its cabin crew for being overweight. In a state of affairs where a sensitive and measured approach would have been advisable, Air India defended the decision citing a &lsquosafety concern&rsquo.  

The airlines guidelines and concerns with regards to ideal body types dates back to the 1980&rsquos when the airline distributed weight and height charts to their employees. This was followed by an incident in early 2000&rsquos when the airline said it would not consider flight attendant candidates who had &ldquoacne or bad teeth&rdquo. Shocker, right

This decision comes on the back of the Indian government trying to sell Air India, mind you, an airline that is suffering from crippling debts of 580 billion rupees ($8 billion). 

The timing of the move also has a few people questioning whether or not this is an upshot of Prime Minister Modi&rsquos &ldquoFit India&rdquo initiative that was marketed only recently in a bid to encourage exercise in the country.