Air India recently announced a move to provide exclusive seating for women only. However , this will be only for a small section of the plane. This came after recent reports of sexual harassment onboard.
The national carrier made the announcement and said it intends to make the move to prevent further sexual misconduct onboard, according to according to Yahoo. This after recent two incidents of women being sexually groped on the national carrier Air India, only within a span of two weeks.
The seats that are going to be blocked for women are only 6 seats in the 3rd row of the economy section. It is going to be implemented only on domestic flights and to be launched on Jan. 18.
The option will be offered only to women who are travelling alone. There will be no additional costs charged. Also, plastic handcuffs are to be made available just in case for passengers who will be "totally out of control".
Air India's Meenakshi Malik said in a statement: "We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers." He also said that they have a lot of female passengers so they plan to block some seats for them.
Not all groups however are happy with the move. They say that in spite of the move being well meaning, it is a wrong approach. According to Sudhakara Reddy of the Air Passengers Association of India, the move is actually sexist and patronizing. He also said that it is "impractical and will lead to gender discrimination."
This was not the first time that the national carrier Air India was involved in controversy. It was also questioned before on its gender equality credentials. In 2015. It was questioned on its plan to ground 125 mostly women crew for failing to pass the airline's standards of body weight.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
