Airline says initiative allowing women to avoid sitting with men has been “positive”

Indian airline IndiGo said that its current pilot program, which allows women to prebook seats to sit with other female passengers, has seen a positive response.

In May, the airline launched the program with an aim to make female passengers feel more at ease during flights.

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IndiGo said it uses Passenger Name Records to identify female travellers flying alone or with family. When checking in, they can view what seats other women on the flight have reserved and can pick where they would like to sit accordingly.

At the time, the airline said the initiative was being introduced as “basis market research.”

Daily Hive reached out to IndiGo for an update on how the program has been going since its launch.

In a response, IndiGo representative Prateeksha Bhatia said that the airline is currently evaluating the success of the program and will make a decision about if it will continue in the coming months.

“This feature has definitely helped continue to position an Airline of choice for solo women travellers,” said Bhatia.

“Currently roughly 13% of the travellers are solo women travellers.”

Woman share experiences in response to IndiGo’s pilot

IndiGo’s pilot program has received quite a bit of attention on social media, prompting many reactions.

Some were pleased with the decision.

One comment noted that it was “sad” the airline had to implement this in the first place.

Others seemed skeptical about the pilot or disagreed with it altogether.

However, a recent post by media company Pop Crave about IndiGo’s program prompted many eye-opening responses from women opening up about their own experiences when it comes to the lack of safety on public transportation.

Warning: some of these responses may be triggering.

One commenter noted that they’ve experienced multiple instances of “manspreading” on flights.

Another person said they felt “anxious” when seated between two men on a flight.

IndiGo told Daily Hive it has received “a lot of positive feedback from [its] customers, especially female customers” regarding the option.

“This gives more power in the hands of the female customers to choose,” stated the airline.

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