New Delhi: Air India introduces a strict health and fitness compliance policy for its cabin crew. The policy is named ‘Cabin Crew Health and Fitness Compliance
Policy.’ The initiative will be operational from May 1.
Body Mass Index (BMI) will play a key role in determining the eligibility of the cabin crew. If any member couldn’t meet the health and fitness compliance with new standards, the individual could face de-rostering, grounding, and loss of pay.
The BMI will be checked at various stages under the new policy. An individual will be under testing during training and safety procedures, before and after flights.
A range between 18 and 24.9 is classified as normal and fully perfect. Based on the cabin crew’s BMI, they will be assessed across four categories. An individual with a BMI below 18 is determined as underweight, while between 25 and 29.9 is categorised as overweight.
If crew members fail to pass the new policy, then they will be removed from the roster and sent back to the airline’s training academy for assessment. The members will only be allowed to resume flying duties after clearing medical and functional evaluations.
However, if any crew member fails the assessment in the training academy, then they will be placed on leave without pay until the member is officially declared fit.
By giving a chance to the underweight and overweight crew members, the regulations are strict for those who have a BMI over 30. If any member is classified as obese, then they will not be acceptable under any circumstances. Such members will be immediately re-grounded and will face loss of pay.
The obese crew members have to undergo medical tests within a week, including blood sugar and lipid profile checks.
The non-compliant crew members have a 30-day cycle period to meet the requirements of the new policy, but if they fail to meet the criteria within 30 days, then a caution letter will be issued against them. If the formal letter persists for another 30 days, a final warning will be issued against the member. The monitoring will be conducted before and after flights.
