It’s for safety for female passengers.
Air India has announced that they will begin selling seats, at no extra cost, which are designated for women only. Six seats grouped together in economy will only carry women passengers as the airline hopes to promote safety for women who need to travel alone.
The decision was made after a female passenger was allegedly groped by a male passenger after he changed seats from business class to economy.
A spokesperson for Air India told The Hindu:
“We will soon reserve two rows (or six seats) for women passengers only.
We will be reserving the third row — six seats — in the economy class of the aircraft for female passengers travelling alone.
We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers. There are a lot of female passengers who travel alone with us and we will be blocking a few seats for them.”
Some people, including a former director of Air India and the president of Air Passengers Association of India, think the move is a “misplaced priority” and will cause “gender discrimination”.
