An airline in India is only taking on slim women as cabin crew in an attempt to save fuel and money.
Budget carrier GoAir has told The Times of India it will be hiring predominantly female flight attendants in future because they are 15-20 kilos lighter on average than men.
The airline estimates each extra kilo on board costs Rs3 ($0.05) per flying hour, and the new policy will save it up to $500,000 a year.
A spokesman denied to CNN that it had implemented a gender-biased recruitment policy. But he confirmed that the airline’s male-female cabin crew ratio of 40:60 was among the most male-heavy in the industry in India.
He also confirmed that GoAir would be seeking to adjust this ratio to be in line with the industry norm of 30 men to 70 women.
Other weight-reduction initiatives will also be employed.
“The size of in-flight magazines has been reduced,” the carrier’s chief executive Giorgio De Roni said. “The portable water tanks are no longer being filled to capacity as only 35% to 40% of that water is actually used.”
GoAir’s 130 male cabin staff out of a total of 330 will be unaffected because the policy affects future recuits only.
The airline expects to hire around 2,000 flight attendants and pilots over the next seven years.