In a first, Air India to reserve seats for women passengers

With an intention to ensure the safety of woman passengers, national carrier Air India will reserve two rows or six seats for female commuters.

Air India will soon provide the facility to woman passengers travelling alone without any extra charges, a report published in The Hindu said.

“We will be reserving the third row — six seats — in the economy class of the aircraft for female passengers travelling alone,” Air India general manager-revenue management Meenakshi Malik told The Hindu.

Air India has taken the decision after a flyer reportedly groped a woman co-passenger on-board in the carrier's Mumbai-Newark flight late last month. Apparently, a business class flyer changed his seat to sit next to a female passenger in the economy class and allegedly groped her when she was asleep.

Interestingly, no other airlines company in the world provides any special privilege for women passengers. However, in Indian Railways, both local and long-distance trains, metros and buses such facilities are provided to female commuters.

Experts are not happy with the decision of Air India as they feel that this move is impractical.

After being labelled as the world's third-worst performing airline by flight data firm FlightStats, Air India is taking measures to remove the smudge on its reputation.