As reported by Reuters, a senior official of the carrier said from Jan. 18 the airline would designate six seats in the third row of its economy class cabin for unaccompanied women travelers, rejecting claims that the step was taken due to reports of in-flight sexual assault and harassment. The move will make Air India the only airline in the country to make this change. 

G. Prasada Rao, Air India's general manager for corporate communications, purports that "it is not connected to the reports of sexual assaults. It's more to do with the fact that economy class doesn't have much space to move around easily and comfortably for women, so this option will give them more choice." 

"We are doing this as we get lots of requests by female passengers at the check-in counter who want to sit next to another woman, rather than a male passenger," added Rao.

(Read also: Jakarta kicks off operation of female-only buses)

The seats will be provided at no extra cost and will be available an hour before check-in closes. The policy might reach out to international flights after evaluating its effectiveness on domestic routes.

A growing number of articles have been attributed to Air India’s decision to welcome this policy following reports of sexual assault in-flight. For instance, a 40-year-old female passenger claimed to being groped while she was asleep by the man sitting next to her during a flight from Mumbai to New York. Two weeks later, a female flight attendant claimed a male passenger made crude comments toward her during a flight from Delhi to Muscat. Both men were reported to the local police once the flights landed. 

Prior to this, India already had policies in place to separate women and men on public transportation—such as trains and buses—to prevent chances of sexual harassment and assault. (nik/kes)

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