Air India offers solo female passengers special seating options

Dhaka: The newly rejuvenated Air India is offering females travelling alone alternative seating options. As per a release, Air India will encourage solo female travellers and mothers travelling with their children alone to pick alternative seats for free.

In a directive from the carrier, these solo passengers will be offered a window or aisle seat, depending on their preference.

India's leading carrier sent an internal communication to staff, on October 3, announcing the latest initiative, stating, "To ensure the female guests travelling with us have a comfortable flight, we as a company are adopting a gender-sensitive seat assignment practice. A circular has been released by…team regarding the same."

It appears the move came from feedback from past female passengers, who identified discomfort if assigned a middle seat when travelling alone.

Furthermore, the initiative has been widely celebrated by airline staff, who have noted that some flights can have at least 10 per cent solo women travellers and may not feel comfortable being seated between two males.

Air India's initiative has been named 'gender-sensitive seat assignment practice'. It ensures that airport staff and crew can change seats at their discretion should they believe it is in the best interest of the select passengers.