What industry standards is the Maharashtra government referring to? I think the minister or bureaucrat who made the remark about their looks can and should be taken to court and serve a prison sentence for this socially irresponsible and racist remark. I dare this guy, whoever he / she is, to show up on Facebook and answer my post. As a frequent flier on many domestic sectors I can see only two major filters which can be called industry standards - alert and quick responses and a reasonable fluency in English. We all know that young women from smaller towns form the major catchment for recruitment in aviation and hospitality. Where does this utterly stupid generalization come from?. What evidence does the state have that perhaps they were not adequately trained in English.Which airline refused to hire them and why? Mor information on this please.I have just got home from Mumbai - and at least one ground staff at Mumbai airport who checked me in and two cabin crew had distinctly non upper-caste Indian looks. But obviously they were fluent in Englsih. The story here gives inadequate information. Can we share the information please for legal action against the minister and bureaucrat? Arnab Sen Flat # 1024 Sector C Pocket 1 Vasant Kunj New Delhi 110070 INDIA Phones: Cell: (+91) 9811004308, Home: (+91 11) 26124928, Work (Direct): (+91 11) 41913365
On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 10:17 PM, Sudesh Kumar < [email protected]> wrote: > > > After being promised a high-flying aviation career and sinking resources > into Pune’s privately run Air Hostess Academy, over 100 young tribal people > find themselves stranded back where they came from. Not only have airlines > refused to hire them, the state has now scrapped the course with the > outrageous justification that their looks and accents worked against them. > No less than Maharashtra’s minister and commissioner for tribal development > have blamed the students instead of sticking up for them. > > Apart from an absurd industry standard, there is no reason why the > requirements should include anything beyond efficiency, fitness, grooming > and smarts. The job description spans serving food and drinks, caring for > the ill or elderly, enforcing safety rules and staying alert for possible > emergencies. A flight aisle is not a runway — given a choice, who wouldn’t > prefer a warm, competent air hostess to an icy, convent-schooled, heavily > made-up stick insect? But ever since the first American “sky girls” in the > ’30s, flight attendants have been wrapped in a remote glamour, no matter how > tedious their service and safety duties. “Trolley dolly” is the > condescending British expression for flight attendants. Singapore Airlines > unabashedly sells itself through the Singapore Girl, who must be between 25 > and 35, of Asian extraction, “slim and attractive, with a good complexion > and warm personality”. India’s airlines have easily internalised that idea, > of high-heeled, low-status paragons of femininity. > > Read more on http://maharashtra.ozg.in/2010/03/100-ad > ivasi-air-hostess-discriminated.html > > *Adivasi | Tribal > India*<http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=ts&gid=60261715372> > > > > > > > -- > Sudesh Kumar > J H A R K H A N D > www.jharkhand.org.uk > >
