Reservation is set to get off the ground, literally. Come January 18 and national carrier Air India will start reserving six seats towards the front of its every domestic flight for women passengers travelling alone. The move will be made for their safety and there will be no additional charges.
"We will soon reserve two rows (or six seats) for women passengers only," Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told the Hindu.
"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 carrier, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level for female passengers. There are a lot of women passengers who travel alone with us and we will be blocking a few seats for them," Air India General Manager-Rrevenue Management Meenakshi Malik said.
This is probably the first time in the world that an airline has decided to reserve seats only for women passengers. Many of the other modes of public transport in India likes buses and trains already have reservations for women. Gurugram and Noida have also introduced pink auto-rickshaws, especially for women.
The move comes after a woman passenger was allegedly groped by another flyer on board an Air India's Mumbai-Newark flight late last month. A business-class passenger travelling in the flight changed his seat and sat next to a woman passenger in the economy class and allegedly committed the act while she was asleep.
But not all are happy
Former Air India executive director Jitendra Bhargava described the move as a "misplaced priority" and said: "To my knowledge, this happens nowhere in the world. Planes are not unsafe for women passengers. In case of unruly behaviour, the airline crew are authorised to take action as per the law."
National President of Air Passengers Association of India D Sudhakara Reddy also thought that the move was "impractical" and would "lead to gender discrimination. The airline should not go ahead with the plan," he told the Hindu.
