Air India has recently announced that it will create a women-only area for solo female travelers to stop sexual harassment during flights. All aircraft of the state-run airline will reserve the third row solely for women. Now, many people are having mixed opinions and reactions about the decision made by Air India suggesting that it's an insult to women.
According to the Daily Mail, Air India representative, Meenakshi Malik said, "We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers." The airlines came up with the decision after one of their female passengers was sexually harassed by a male passenger during her sleep.
Now, the six seats in the third row will be reserved for female passengers traveling alone and it wouldn't incur any additional charges as reported by Fox News. But not only will the airlines provide an area for women, it will also keep plastic handcuffs on board when rowdy passengers get out of control.
However, the seats will only be offered initially for domestic flights in India. BBC reported that the women's section will be available on the Airbus A320 aircraft on flights within the country for now but may be available to international flights after a few months.
Despite Air India's efforts to address the issue about sexual harassment during flights, a lot of people are still having mixed reactions. There are some who gave the airline company credit for implementing such a decision but others think it's just a token gesture.
Some people think that the decision made by the airline company will just strengthen gender stereotyping. Also, some people suggested that it's an insult to young independent strong women. It's not the first time Air India faced such a controversy since cutting off some of its flight attendants, who were mostly women because they were overweight.
Air India's women only area is still a work in progress since it was just recently implemented. People will see if it will bring negative or positive results after a while.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
