IndiGo, India’s largest low-cost airline, has introduced a new policy allowing female passengers to choose the gender of the person seated next to them on flights starting in August.
Women can see the gender of other passengers who have selected seats during online check-in, with women marked in pink, to help them decide where to sit. Men are not shown this information and can only see available seats.
Social media reactions to the policy have been mixed, with some supporting it as a way to enhance personal space and comfort for women, while others criticize it as discriminatory and regressive.
The airline stated that the new feature aims to make the travel experience more comfortable for female passengers, following precedents in India where trains and buses allow women to choose seats next to other women to reduce the risk of sexual assault.
