Air travel often comes with stress, but for female travelers there’s often an added layer of stress: Will the person sitting next to me on the plane be annoying? Yes, we know “not all men” but every woman has one about one Man, they don’t wear badges to let you know which ones are going to be a problem.
That’s why IndiGo, one of the world’s largest airlines, has launched a program to allow female passengers to choose female seats.
The program, which is currently in the pilot phase (no pun intended), works like this: When booking a flight, customers must select their gender. Female passengers will be able to see the gender chosen by other passengers on the seat chart (females are marked, what else, pink), regardless of whether they’re booking for themselves or for a family member.
Male passengers will be in darkness while choosing their seats.
The scheme was launched following reports of harassment of women traveling on IndiGo, with reports stating that male passengers were groped during the flight and while waiting to board the aircraft.
However, of course, this isn’t just a problem for one airline. Search Google for any combination of “groping,” “passenger” and “airplane” and you’ll find stories from decades ago earlier this summer, when a 70-year-old man was charged with groping a 15-year-old traveling The girl was arrested while on a flight from Atlanta to Seattle with her guardian.
An FBI report earlier this year highlighted the scope of the problem, reporting nearly 100 report In-flight sexual assault cases: Women and unaccompanied minors are the most likely victims. IndiGo is India’s largest low-cost airline, operating 2,000 domestic and international flights daily. Therefore, this plan has the potential to have a huge impact.
“We are committed to providing an unparalleled travel experience to all our passengers, and this new feature is just one of the many steps we are taking to achieve that goal,” IndiGo said in a statement to CNN.
It also noted that the move is in line with the company’s #GirlPower ethos. In fact, IndiGo has more female pilots than any other airline in the world – 680 as of 2022.
Air travel is confusing enough – from getting through the airport to dealing with the annoyance of sitting on the plane to worrying about whether your luggage made it through – it’s nice to think that this new feature could give passengers one less thing to worry about.
