Lahore, Jan 7 (IT): Pakistan's national airline-Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)-is unhappy with its cabin crew. It says they are too fat and shabby. So to solve the 'problem', PIA has issued a farmaan (order) asking all crew members to become "slim, smart and fit". The deadline is six months. Those who fail to do so will face the risk of being grounded. "Strict compliance is required," the order said.

"No one would like to have shabby crew in the aircraft," Mashhood Tajwar, spokesperson of PIA was quoted as saying by media in Pakistan. He said PIA had received complaints about "obese" flight attendants.

The order has been issued to cabin crew who have "excess weight". Besides this, the airline has issued a suggested weight chart. It lists the weight a cabin crew should have in accordance to his/her height and body type.

"If any crew [is] found above 30 lbs from the desired weight...[he/she] will be grounded and referred to Air Crew Medical Center for medical evaluation and treatment until weight is reduced up to the desired standared/BMI," the order states.

According to a report published in The Express Tribune, a leading English language newspaper from Pakistan, the order says that those who are already "on weight check" need to report monthly to a "grooming cell" to receive clearance to fly.

The order was issued by PIA's General Manager of Flight Services Aamir Bashir on January 1, 2019. The order says the official excess weight limits would be cut back by five pounds (2.26 kgs) a month.

According to The Express Tribune, the memo has been distributed to approximately 1,800 cabin crew.

The airline said it is cracking down on what it terms the "excess weight" of some of its cabin crew.

Currently, flight attendants, who are 30 pounds (13.6 kgs) over are still eligible for flight duty, the report said.

According to the airline's weight chart, for a "medium frame" woman of 5 feet 7 inches height (1.7 meters), for example, the guide is 133 to 147 pounds (60 to 66 kgs).

"Weight check of all the cabin crew will be carried out at their base stations respectively and comprehensive data will be maintained for perusal of management," the news report quoted the memo as saying.

Around 100, over 5 per cent, of the crew would need to lose weight by July 1 to avoid grounding, Mashhood Tajwar, a PIA spokesman was quoted as saying in the report.

He described the crackdown on overweight flight crew as a "regular, routine matter," and suggested that the memo was issued as standards for weight had lapsed over time.

It was issued to ensure that the flight attendants were "slim, smart and fit", Tajwar said.

Tajwar said the initiative was put in place for reasons of appearance and health, and insisted that PIA was not alone in insisting their cabin crews hit weight targets, the report added.

PIA has been in losses for years but successive governments have failed to improve its financial situation.

Its accumulated losses surged to Rs 36,000 crore by the end of June last year, which, according to the finance ministry, speaks volumes about the persistently deteriorating performance of the carrier.