{"id":8344,"date":"2024-09-02T15:08:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T15:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelaffiliatewebsite.com\/mer\/this-airline-allows-female-passengers-to-avoid-sitting-next-to-a-man\/"},"modified":"2024-09-02T15:08:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T15:08:09","slug":"this-airline-allows-female-passengers-to-avoid-sitting-next-to-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelaffiliatewebsite.com\/mer\/this-airline-allows-female-passengers-to-avoid-sitting-next-to-a-man\/","title":{"rendered":"This airline allows female passengers to avoid sitting next to a man"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Whether due to someone removing their shoes right after boarding or eating a stinky sandwich<\/a> during mealtime, we’ve all occasionally wished we had the power to choose our seatmate when we fly. One airline finally gives some customers that option, though for a different reason than the olfactory examples listed above.<\/p>\n

IndiGo, a low-cost airline based in India, recently announced a new policy allowing female passengers to choose whether or not to sit next to a man. Under IndiGo’s new policy, women can see the gender of passengers who have already selected their seats during check-in by way of a blue or pink marking on the seat map. Men, on the other hand, will not be privy to this information.<\/p>\n

The new policy began as a test among IndiGo’s female travelers, according to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers. “We brought it up as a test for our female travelers to check in and see where they can sit next to another female traveler,” he said in a recent interview with CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”<\/a><\/p>\n

With inflight sexual assault cases on the rise, it’s no surprise that airlines are on the lookout for ways to make women feel safer and more comfortable when they fly.<\/p>\n

In April, the FBI released a bulletin<\/a> to raise awareness on the topic of sexual assault on airplanes in the U.S. “Typically, men are the perpetrators, and women and unaccompanied minors are the victims,” it stated. In 2023 alone, the FBI opened 96 cases based on inflight sexual assault, up from 27 sexual misconduct cases aboard aircraft<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n

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