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Berkut -- it doesn't matter if he is disabled or not if ATP perceives that he is and discriminates based on that perception.
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I don't believe that ATP perceives he's disabled. I believe that ATP perceives (perhaps wrongly) that Vladi simply isn't who the airlines are looking for. You could say that's effed up and and untrue, and I'd be inclined to agree with you. But I don't think they are perceiving a disability.
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Originally Posted by SpiraMirabilis  ATP perceives that he won't be able to get a job based on his weight. Working is considered a major life activity |
ATP perceives that he won't get a job
as an airline pilot because of his weight, not that he is unable to work because of his weight. There's a significant difference. Remember, airlines are within their rights to say, "We like you, but appearance is very important to us. Sorry." An airline not hiring you because you're overweight doesn't mean that you are disabled*; therefore, it follows that someone
saying an airline won't hire you because you're overweight doesn't mean that person
perceives you as being disabled. That particular someone is commenting on what he believes to be the airlines' hiring preference, not on any perceived impairment of the student.
The key point is this: If ATP believes for some reason that the airlines won't hire an overweight person for reasons of appearance rather than impairment (which the airlines can do, even if they choose not to), then ATP is free to tell overweight students that they are unhireable. Since it has nothing to do with impairment, it's not because of any perceived disability. And if there's no actual disability or perceived disability, then ATP is not required to accommodate them.
* "No airlines will hire me because I'm fat" vs. "I'm unable to work because I'm fat"