Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Air India says being grossly overweight does have a bearing on reflexes and can impair agility 
 
 India's national carrier Air India is set to ground 125 "overweight" cabin crew members. 
 
 An Air India official told the BBC that the order had been made on the basis of a document issued by the civil aviation authority last year. 
 
 The airline had warned 600 of its crew to "shape up" last year, but 125 had not managed to maintain the required weight, the official said. 
 
 The airline says however that the issue is not one of weight, but "fitness". 
 
 Airline officials confirmed to the BBC that the directive had been issued, but said it was part of an internal document which they could not comment on publicly. 
 
 They said the basis for the recommendation was concern that "unfit" cabin crew would not be able to operate efficiently in emergency situations. 
 
 Aviation regulations state that a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18-25 is normal for a male cabin crew member, while for a female it is 18-22. 
 
 Aviation expert Kapil Kaul told the BBC: "An overweight crew is a signal the airline is not fit. You need a smart friendly agile crew that can complement the image of the airline." 
 
 However, national union leader Tapan Sen denied that service rules mention any firm weight restriction for cabin crew. 
 
 This is not the first time Air India has grounded staff over weight issues. In 2009, it dismissed nine hostesses for being "overweight" on safety grounds saying their shape could "impair agility". 
 
 In 2004, the airline landed itself in further controversy when it said that potential air hostesses and stewards should not have any scars, acne, or any major marks on the face. ||||| Air India last year warned 600 of its 3,500 cabin crew to lose weight within six months or risk being taken off flights and given a job on the ground. The airline now plans to remove about 130 from cabin crew duty because their body mass index (BMI) levels remain above the prescribed limit. 
 
 The airline said that the “normal” BMI for an air hostess is between 18 and 22, “overweight” between 22 and 27, and “obese” for a value above 27. For male attendants the brackets were 18 to 25, 25 to 30, and above. The NHS says a “healthy” BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. 
 
 After the state-run airline’s staff were tested last year, the 600 found to be “overweight” or “obese” were declared “temporarily unfit” for flight duties and asked to undergo clinical examinations and lose weight by changing their diet and lifestyle and exercising more, while being monitored by staff. 
 
 “About 130 of them failed the reassessment,” an Air India official told The Telegraph in Calcutta. “We are now declaring them permanently unfit for their job as flight attendants.” 
 
 “People who are fitter can respond quicker and more efficiently in case of any untoward situation.” 
 
 This is not the first time Air India has removed staff from the air for being overweight. In 2009, the airline ground 10 flight attendants who failed to slim down. 
 
 In 2013, Air India said that deploying female flight attendants rather than male could save them about £329,000 per year in full costs because they weight on average 33 to 44 pounds lighter. 
 
 A member of the All India Cabin Crew Association said the grounding of 130 staff was “ridiculous”, according to The Telegraph. 
 
 “Any industry insider would vouch that Air India flight attendants are the best, mainly because of their long experience. So, this guideline and the management's decision to follow it to the letter is unacceptable.” 
 
 The airline has had a difficult year, with a special recruitment day in March welcoming zero attendees. It has also suffered from financial difficulties in recent years, with a government bailout necessary to keep the carrier afloat in 2012.
– Air India has bad news for crew members it deems "overweight": Time for you to find a new job. The airline is planning to cut 125 workers after warning several hundred of them last year that it was time to get in shape, the BBC reports. Those who didn't trim down to the weight requirement are being told to leave, though Air India insists this is about fitness level, not weight per se: "People who are fitter can respond quicker and more efficiently in case of any untoward situation," an Air India official tells the Telegraph. For the record, aviation regulations define normal body mass index as 18-25 for male cabin workers and 18-22 for females. But national union leader Tapan Sen says there's no strict weight requirement in the service rules for cabin workers, and a member of the All India Cabin Crew Association says it's "ridiculous" to cut employees this way. "Any industry insider would vouch that Air India flight attendants are the best, mainly because of their long experience," the member says. "So, this guideline and the management's decision to follow it to the letter is unacceptable." Just two years ago, Air India said it could save about half a million dollars in overall costs annually by hiring female flight attendants, because their average weight is between 33 and 44 pounds less than a man's, the Telegraph reported at the time.