http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2399446,00.html

 World News 
 
 
 Sheela Joshi has been told to lose weight or get a ground job 
 
 
The Times October 12, 2006

If this air hostess puts on 2lb she risks losing her job
From Jeremy Page in Delhi
 
 
 
 
Sheela Joshi has been told to lose weight or get a ground job
 
SHEELA JOSHI was trying to get some sleep before her next flight when Indian Airlines officials approached her with an unusual request.
They wanted to weigh her. When they found out that the 48-year-old air hostess was over the company’s regulation weight of 63kg (10st), they promptly bumped her off the flight that she was about to work on and grounded her without pay.

Embarrassed and enraged, Ms Joshi is now taking India’s state carrier to court, accusing it of trying to revamp its image by replacing older — and heavier — stewardesses with younger, thinner recruits.

 
 
The High Court in Delhi is due to rule next month on a petition by Ms Joshi and ten other stewardesses demanding that the airline should reverse its new zero tolerance policy on overweight crew.

The stewardesses, who are among 140 aircrew who have been grounded in recent months for being overweight, also want the airline to pay the staff salaries in full when they are not permitted to fly for this reason.

“They want a younger look for the airline,” Ms Joshi told The Times. “But the main reason for us to be there is to guarantee the safety of the passengers. And for that, it’s experience you need, not youth or beauty.”

The dispute reflects the growing competition between India’s state airline and a host of private carriers that have opened since the country began liberalising its economy 15 years ago.

One of them, Kingfisher Airlines, boasts openly that it has the country’s most beautiful stewardesses and kits them out with short skirts and high heels.

But the case also hints at changing attitudes towards female beauty in India, where once buxom models and film stars now increasingly emulate the waifs on Western screens and catwalks.

Indian Airlines says it is simply trying to move with the times. Like many airlines, it stipulates in air crew contracts that male and female staff can be laid off if their weight exceeds a certain level.

In 1990 it issued a circular saying that staff could exceed their maximum natural weight, as defined by company doctors, by up to 10 per cent. But a decade later it changed the excess weight allowance to 7kg. Over the next five years it steadily reduced that to 3kg and in May this year scrapped the allowance altogether. “We are part of the service industry and we have to be more presentable,” Vishwapati Trivedi, the airline’s chairman, said at the time. “So we are trying to get the cabin crew members to be fit.”

Subhro Sanyl, a lawyer for Indian Airlines, said that the company scrapped the allowance because of market forces and security risks.

“Other airlines are taking similar measures,” he said. “This is not a subterfuge to get rid of older hostesses. “We need fitter, more agile hostesses. We don’t want someone who is overweight and unsure about herself if the plane is taken over.”

Ms Joshi, he said, should either take a ground job or try to lose some weight.

The airline’s doctors have said that Ms Joshi should weigh between 53 and 63kg and she was grounded in December for being 67kg.

She is now 62kg — 1kg or 2lb 3oz under the limit — and says that she now skips dinner to avoid putting on weight. But she says that means going on crash diets that could damage her health. Her natural body weight, she says, is 66-67 kg, but Indian Airlines doctors have set it at 53-63 kg.

She did not fly again until June, and was then grounded again in July for being 64.9 kg.She also now does regular workouts to avoid putting on the pounds.

“She can be grounded without pay for being 100 grammes overweight,” her lawyer, Arvind Kumar Sharma, said. “That is unconstitutional.” 
 
 

IA cabin crew make it to the pages of the British Press!!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2171073.cms
'81 AI Boeing hijacker in city to meet pilot
Nauzer Bharucha
[ 14 Oct, 2006 0229hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
 
 
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MUMBAI: On Saturday, a retired Air India (AI) pilot will relive the life-and-death ordeal he encountered almost 25 years ago.

He will meet one of the hijackers who seized his Boeing 707 aircraft along with 79 passengers and crew in the Seychelles and forced it to fly to South Africa.

The ex-mercenary, Peter Duffy, who served a jail term, will fly down from Delhi to Mumbai to come face-to-face with former AI pilot Capt U C Saxena.

The South African Duffy and the Indian pilot will spend the day discussing the events that unfolded on November 25, 1981, at the Victoria Mahe airport in the Seychelles.

"It's the first time I will be meeting him after the hijack,"Capt Saxena, 64, told TOI on Friday. "It was he who desired to meet me. One of the things I am going to ask him is whether he intended to blow up the plane. I know he will not lie to me."

On that fateful day, 44 mainly South African mercenaries, who had arrived in the Seychelles to stage a coup against President Albert Rene, forced themselves into Kamet, the AI 707 plane, which had just arrived from Zimbabwe and was on its way to Bombay.

The armed mercenaries had earlier arrived on a Royal Swazi Airlines chartered plane from Swaziland. Posing as rugby players, the mercenaries had almost managed to clear customs along with their hidden weapons when an Indian customs officer, Vincent Pillay, detected a dismantled AK-47 assault rifle.

Realising that they had been outed, a gunfight soon broke out at the airport between the armed men and the local military police.

"They could not enter the city. So they forced the air traffic control to make us land our plane. As soon as the ladder was put up, they barged into the aircraft and took us hostage,"recalled Capt Saxena.

Duffy, a photographer and karate expert, was one of the 44 men who, along with ringleader Mike Hoare, an Irishman, forced themselves in as the confused AI passengers cowered. After three-and-a-half hours at Mahe airport, the pilot was given an ultimatum. "They ordered us to fly to South Africa,"Capt Saxena said.

Supplies were low on the aircraft—food and water soon ran out, children were crying and, as Saxena put it, "The hijackers had finished off every drop of alcohol on the plane."

After a four-hour flight, the aircraft landed at Durban where all the hijackers surrendered. "Before leaving, Peter told me, 'We must meet some day.'

I replied, 'Not under such circumstances',"Saxena recollected. The flight returned safely to Mumbai three days later with all the passengers and crew returning unharmed.

Duffy got a five-year term, but served only 21 months in prison before he was released.

www.uninews.com

Higher salary attracts Indonesian pilots to work in India

 Surabaya, Oct 16 (ANTARA)

Indian airline companies are attracting more and more Indonesian pilots by giving them two-three fold higher salary than what their country gives.

 ‘‘In Air Sahara, there are about five Indonesian pilots, while in Jet Air at least ten pilots are from Indonesia. Most of them are former pilots of Garuda, Merpati, Mandala and other private airlines companies of Indonesia,’’ Lulik Turnianto, a former Merpati airline (Indonesian) pilot, who is now working as a pilot in Air Sahara said.

 ‘‘Working in India gives certain satisfaction as the salary is quite big. A captain’s salary in India can reach three folds,’’ he said.

 Most of pilots from Indonesia wanted a direct flight from India to Indonesia to be immediately opened and vise versa. But till now it was only Air India which was serving the Delhi-Jakarta route, he said.

www.uninews.com

Cox & Kings tie-up with Indian for Direct Reservation Interface

To open offices in Taiwan and Singapore

Bhisham Mansukhani -

Mumbai, Oct 18 (UNI)

Cox & Kings (C & K) has tied up with Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) for a direct online interface wherein the tour operator major's portal will have real time access to the airline's inventory. This, John Nair, national head, business development and sales, says will be a considerable value add for C&K's business travel clientele as well as help Indian shore up distribution costs. Additionally, Karan Anand, director contracting, C&K told ETW that C&K was to open offices in Taiwan and Singapore in light of the growing business on the inbound and outbound front. C&K's direct online interface with Indian will give C&K clientele direct real time access to latest, updated IC fares as opposed to the time lag it usually takes on the GDS. C&K is also talking to other domestic carriers about a similar, direct interface. "The direct interface will also help cut down manpower costs and make e-ticketing more commonplace, thereby making travel more efficient and sophisticated," Nair said. Indian accounts for 35 per cent of C&K's domestic airline business. While this is initially a business travel initiative, it will soon be focused on the leisure market as well. C&K will eventually position this strategy as an online distribution vehicle for India's growing number of low cost carriers.

None of the online portals so far have direct access to the IC booking engine. The interface will be operational across all of C&K's 13 offices in India and it will also enable customers to generate an e-ticket. It will kick off within a month. Anand revealed that C&K is opening offices in Taiwan and Singapore in order to service existing inbound and outbound business and also to develop Singapore as a hub in South East Asia.

"The strategy is to liason with our suppliers with regard to outbound from India. Our business into South East Asia is growing at a compounded rate of 30 per cent per annum and it is imperative that we have a set up in Singapore to liason with our suppliers across the region. The benefits of this is that we will be very close to our suppliers and this forges a more personal bond and makes inventory available to us at a faster rate," Anand said.

First-ever luxury train to travel across India 
The first-ever luxury train, The Viceroy of India, to run across the Indian subcontinent left Mumbai on September 5, 2006 on a 14-day trip that will take passengers from around the world. It is being run by the British company, GW Travel, that runs luxury trains in Russia and China. The entire ground handling such as sightseeing and other arrangements are being handled by Cox & Kings.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=206975
Baramati to get Mallya touch
 
Plaban Gupta
 
Pune, October 27: Chairman of United Breweries Vijay Mallya has now set his sights on one the fastest growing sectors in Maharashtra: Wines.

Talking on the sidelines of Hi Tech Pune, he disclosed his plans to start a winery in the state. “We have decided to build a winery at Baramati, which will be one of the best in India.” However, he declined to disclose the amount to be invested in the winery and when it will take off. On the possibility of the UB Group acquiring existing wineries, Mallya said: “As of now, the winery is the only thing we are focusing on.”

 
Referring to a recent poll survey where Kingfisher Airlines was voted as the most favoured airline, Mallya said: “The trick was that we had to provide something unique to our customers, for which our competitors Indian and Jet Airways will have to shell out around Rs 600-crore to copy it. We were the first (airline) in India to provide on-board entertainment by installing TV sets for each of our customers. Entertainment is something that Indian customers love to have and we capitalised on it. Now, Indian and Jet Airways are installing it.”

Mallya also said that to stay ahead of his competitors and keep in tune with his company’s line of innovation, Kingfisher Airlines will offer live telecast of all the World Cup cricket matches in March-April 2007 for passengers. “They (Indian and Jet Airways) will be busy fixing TV sets then,” he joked.

He also said he had plans to start flights from Pune to Hyderabad, Nashik and Aurangabad but was denied permission by the Indian Air Force on security grounds.

Talking about the business environment with regard to his group, Mallya said the key lay in building brands. “It was a very hard time for us as we were not allowed to advertise alcoholic products. So, we went to colleges, formed discussion groups and saw that the biggest thing that draws youngster is lifestyle (music, fashion, entertainment). Most of our brands like Bagpiper, which is the largest selling whisky in the world, is carefully built around these themes.”

Mallya needn;t get too cocky!!! 

www.airindia.com

Maharaja opens Air India aisle for Miss India ramp
Friday March 10 2006 08:38 IST
MUMBAI: Only one will win the Miss India 2006 crown next weekend but there’s hope for the rest—the Maharaja is waiting. Air-India, which gave the air-hostess selection procedure a skip to directly recruit six finalists of last year’s pageant, plans to do the same this year.

"The finalists were taken in without a formal recruitment process (interviews or written tests) as they had already undergone a difficult selection process (the Miss India show) on an all-India basis," said A-I’s Human Resource Development Director V A Ferreira.

Of the 23 finalists at the Miss India 2005, A-I contacted 16. Six agreed to join: Kavita Jha, Aparna Sharma, Pooja Arora, Nayaa Singh, Hufriya Bhivandiwala and Priyanka Jha.

While the rest began flying in December 2005, Priyanka opted out of training to finish her modelling commitments and joined the January 2006 batch. She will begin flying later this month.

All six have been allowed to continue their modelling assignments. The modelling agencies are expected to give credit to A-I.

The six have been deployed on the premium US and UK routes, where A-I just expanded its operations. Even Priyanka, who initially declined the offer, was persuaded to change her mind.

She was preparing for her final-year engineering exams when she was made the first offer. "I turned them down a couple of times, but then I wanted to be a pilot some day. So I decided to take it up as it will help me learn, earn and travel a lot," said Priyanka.

She denies any preferential treatment. "Yes, it was simpler getting in, but we are treated the same way like the rest," she said.

In the past, A-I’s direct recruits were only sportspersons who had worn the national colours.

Ferreira maintains that the selection process is fair. According to him, barring the fact that these finalists did not have to take written tests and interviews, they were on par with the rest.

"We want the best," he said, adding that A-I would be advertising for more cabin crew. "We have been to job fairs, beauty pageants and conducted our own recruitment procedures. We badly need people," he said.

                                                                          *****

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1061520

Air India airhostess Priyanka Jha

‘LFW - better watch out!’

Wednesday, November 01, 2006  21:11 IST

If you haven’t seen much of this arresting beauty it’s probably because she’s been too busy travelling the world. All of 24, Priyanka Jha is a former Miss Calcutta, a top five finalist at Miss India and first runner-up at the prestigious Metropolitan Top Model Hunt, India. Offered a special contract by Air India, she’s now a flying ambassador for the national carrier. Just back from South Africa where she was crowned Miss International Tourism 2006 from a field of 108 international beauties, she talks to After Hours about her future plans:

What attracted you to the glamour world?
It was for a lark initially. My father, Maj Gen UK Jha, just retired from the army and my mom is an inspector of schools. The stress was always on academics in my family and incidentally, I’m a qualified electronics engineer. Glamour pageants were never my sole focus, I had I to make time for them in-between my education.

How did Air India happen?
After the Miss India finals, I was approached by Air India with a special offer to join as air hostesses. It’s an great job and allows me time off to do assignments and attend pageants. So I thought, why not?

You’re an engineer – don’t you plan to exploit that education?
I do, but right now my focus is on modelling and even films. I’ve also been toying with the idea of training to be a pilot.

But Bollywood already has a Priyanka...
I know, but I’m not going to change my name. I guess I’ll just give her competition (laughs). But being a pretty presence isn’t what interests me, I want to prove my acting skills. For now, I’ll concentrate on modelling. I’d love to walk for the next LFW - better watch out!

s_saumit@dnaindia.net

karatecatman wrote:

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www.uninews.com

One of India’s first hostesses dead

 Kolkata, Nov 3 (UNI)

Pranati Niyogi, one of the first five airhostesses of independent India’s first airlines and a Congress leader, died here today following protracted illness, her family said.

 Niyogi (79) was survived by her husband and two daughters.

 She was among the first airhostesses in Airways India.

 Niyogi was a former president of West Bengal Pradesh Mahila Committee and a member of State Social Welfare Advisory Board.

---

May her soul RIP

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1939764,00.html

National carrier faces legal backlash from cabin crew suspended for being overweight

Amelia Gentleman in Delhi
Sunday November 5, 2006
The Observer
How thin should you be to be a brand ambassador for modern India? This question will be addressed at Delhi's Supreme Court this week, as lawyers argue over whether Indian Airlines, the state-owned carrier and a national symbol, can fire its air hostesses for being too fat.

Eleven employees, recently grounded for putting on too much weight, claim that the airline has changed its vision of the Indian feminine ideal - abandoning the more buxom prototype in favour of a more westernised, skinny model, which staff see as 'unattainable'.

Indian Airlines will argue that this is a case of selecting the 'best ambassadors' to represent the national airline, and the country as a whole, and will also claim that thinner employees are more agile and better equipped to tackle terrorist incidents and other emergencies.

'They want to discard the heavier women and bring in newer, thinner models,' said Sheela Joshi, an air hostess who was grounded after a spot weigh-in found she was 1.9kg over the prescribed limit for her height.

Distressed at the prospect of losing her job after 25 years with the company, she went on a crash diet, and now eats only one meal a day to try to keep within the limit. She has been allowed to fly again, but describes the process as demeaning. 'This is our national carrier and should represent the dignity of Indian culture. These new policies are humiliating to women.'

An internal memo earlier this year warned cabin staff they would be banned from flying if random weight checks found them to be over a fixed weight, set out in a company chart. Although weight guidelines have always been in place, previously they were not rigorously enforced. Lawyers for the cabin crew unions say that around 130 members of staff have been temporarily suspended without pay for putting on too much weight, although most are now back at work.

The court will rule this week on whether the airline is within its rights to stop paying staff, grounded because of their weight, and lawyers will decide whether it is a breach of constitutional rights to discriminate against overweight staff.

At the root of the dispute is a struggle by the government-run airline to survive in an increasingly competitive industry where new private companies are aggressively marketing their cheap tickets and short-skirted employees.

The advertising of air travel here has a pre-feminism 1950s feel to it, with companies like Kingfisher Airlines (run by beer baron Vijay Mallya) selling young, leggy hostesses in scarlet heels and skimpy red skirts as part of the brand. Mallya prides himself on personally selecting his air hostesses and refers to them as 'walking models in the air'. Another new airline, SpiceJet, dresses its slim and fresh-faced 'Spice Girls' in tight skirts and heels.

Until now, Indian Airlines has stuck to the traditional sari, but staff say there is an increasing managerial sensitivity to the appearance - and weight - of its employees.

'If you look at the cinema, you can see how attitudes are changing. Twenty years ago the stars were bigger, rounder. Now all that matters is the slim figure,' said Joshi, 48, who was grounded for weighing 64.9kg instead of the required 63kg.

'After 25 years, the airline seems to be saying, "you are worn out, we want a younger face". They want supermodels, not air hostesses, and they're setting us unattainable goals. But actually passengers want a polite and caring service and most are more concerned about flight safety than looks. Experienced cabin crew are better in a crisis than new people recruited for their appearance.'

Arvind Kumar Sharma, the air hostesses' lawyer, said the Indian Airlines approach represented a breach of the right to livelihood and described it as 'arbitrary discrimination'.

But Indian Airlines officials stress that the appearance of their staff is a matter of commercial survival. '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.

'Indian Airlines used to have a monopoly, but now the skies are open and the business is very competitive. Why would you fly Indian Airlines when staff at other companies are so very tall and attractive?'

The question of weight was also vital in helping to prevent terrorist attacks, he claimed. 'Staff need to be fit enough to control crazy guys who are trying to take over the flight. Weight is an indication of fitness.'

www.uninews.com

 Action expected against pvt carrier for unauthorised landing
Jodhpur, Nov 8 (UNI)

The Civil Aviation department is contemplating action against a private carrier with ATC confirming that a helicopter carrying Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made an unauthorised landing at a luxary hotel here on October 20.
 Jodhpur Air Traffic Controller said there were violations of regulations by the carrier ’Samit Aviation’ and informed the district authorities about the report sent to ATC headquarters.
 The flight enroute to Jaipur did not seek permission for entering the territory, which is mandatory for every private carrier, the report has said.
 ‘‘We have been informed by the ATC about the landing of the helicopter at Umaid Bhawan Palace hotel and sought further orders from the state government in the case,’’ a senior district official said today.
 The Directorate General of Civil Aviation was expected to suspend the license of helicopter’s captain and penalise the carrier on the basis of the ATC report, he said.
 He said there was little possibility of action against the Hollywood stars as they were only passengers and could not have been aware of the chartered flight landing at a private place without prior permission.