this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2024
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India's largest budget carrier, IndiGo, is the first airline to trial a feature that lets female passengers book seats next to other women to avoid sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with a man in a move designed to make flying more comfortable for female passengers, according to a CNBC report.

The airline's booking process is fairly standard except for the seat map which highlights seats occupied by women with the color pink. This information is not visible to male passengers, according to the airline, CNBC reported. IndiGo did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment on the new feature.

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[–] myliltoehurts@lemm.ee 172 points 2 months ago (6 children)

I wish this existed but for avoiding having to sit near children.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 58 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Unfortunately, kids can't go in the cargo hold. Something about needing air and warmth.

[–] LostXOR@fedia.io 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The cargo holds on commercial flights are pressurized and heated. I can't imagine passengers would take kindly to their luggage being subjected to 0.3x atmospheric pressure at -55°C.

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[–] DinosaurSr@programming.dev 21 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Yeah, sorry about that.

Edit: actually though, I wouldn't mind being seated in something like a "family" section. It really is hard to keep babies and toddlers still and quiet on a plane (or anywhere), and I always feel bad for the people sitting next to us.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It doesn't help when airlines split people up for not paying the "don't get split all over the fucking plane" charge.

Then you end up with kids running between parents and standing all over people.

Honestly fuck airlines for making basic things an optional extra. It costs them literally nothing to sit a family all together.

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[–] norimee@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

I rather have a toddler continously kick my seat on a long haul flight than dealing with a overly "friendly" and intrusive guy who thinks its his right to bother me for 12 hours because I'm stuck there.

[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Or us fatties.

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[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 92 points 2 months ago (11 children)

Do Indian men have a reputation for being inappropriately forward with women? There was a meme that read “every app is a dating app if you’re Indian enough”

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 92 points 2 months ago (1 children)

"Inappropriately forward" is a very polite way to put it. I feel like at least once a month there's a new story out of India about a gang rape or something.

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

To be fair India has the biggest population on earth, like 5+ times US population. Per capita statistics would be more interesting here.

[–] ticho@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

With a topic as sensitive and biased against the victims as this, it's hard to get accurate data - see https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/rape-statistics-by-country

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 60 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Have you like, ignored every second piece of information coming out of india the last decades?

They have a terrible issue with misogyny, there are countless stories of rape and other forms of assault on any kind of women (and girls). Indians, foreigners, none are safe, even with men accompanying them for protection. One or two guys can't do much against a rape mob.

India is probably the first country I would warn a woman away from if she were looking for vacation destinations. Followed by islamic countries.

[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

My wife got invited to a wedding in India and I was not invited (long story). She asked the bride if it was safe to travel to the wedding alone and she straight up said "No. You should find a travel buddy."

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[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago

As far as I know, yes. The Internet has taught me to not bring a woman with me if I ever go to the Holi festival in India. I've never been to India, I hope the internet is wrong but I had an Indian coworker who told me the same thing.

[–] baatliwala@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago

As an Indian I'll say yes, but the people who can afford flights aren't normally the type of people who do that.

[–] JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee 28 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You could look up the gulabi gang. It's a group of women who fight to protect other women from violence.

Edit - I think it's best if we listen to Indian women speak on the problem. The first time I heard about the gulabi gang and why they exist I was horrified.

[–] kippinitreal@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Others commented about misogyny etc. in India miss the fact that India is (a) not a monolith & (b) flights are too expensive for 80% of India's population (yes, wealth disparity in India is that bad). So the men on flights are less likely to grope women than let's say a man on a train.

I asked my Indian colleagues about this, and they said they'd use this preference for space (not purely safety). One of them also said men smell worse than women so she'd prefer a woman next to her.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 13 points 2 months ago (3 children)

India is one of those cultures that still beats female rape victims to death

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[–] norimee@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago
[–] Schmuppes@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Do Indian men have a reputation for being inappropriately forward with women?

That's a very friendly description of their reputation.

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[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 86 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I've been on long flights where I wished there had been designated seating for introverts. But then I considered the implications of packing all the extroverts together in one place nearby and thought better of it.

[–] LouNeko@lemmy.world 83 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So basically introvert are like the Boron control rods inserted into the crowd to prevent the extroverts from going critical.

[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 months ago

Nice. I had been using the analogy that an introvert at a party acts as a sacrificial anode consuming corrosive extroversion until they are utterly exhausted. But I like your take on it!

[–] norimee@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago (8 children)

I don't see the issue here. Most other indian transport has female sections. That is a normal part of public transportation there.

They do not "segregate". Its not like the whole plane is split into male and female zones. They just saying "Hey, if you feel more comfortable sitting with women, we got you."

I would probably not chose it on purpose, but i can see, how it can be a more relaxed experience for other women.

[–] pancakes@sh.itjust.works 43 points 2 months ago

I also imagine for some women, the idea of getting plunked in a middle seat between two potentially creepy guys is a source of anxiety.

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[–] BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee 31 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I would rather not sit next to a fat person if i had the choice

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[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 28 points 2 months ago

Everything going ok India?

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago (2 children)

TBH even as a man I’d prefer to sit not with other men. They are bigger, for one thing. And overall less considerate, though of course they have no monopoly on that.

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 months ago

Though I'm sure the women wouldn't want to sit near a man who wants to sit with women lol

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I want seats next to nobody. How hard will that be to pull off?

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 months ago

I feel rather conflicted about this feature.

On the one hand, I really am against any of these I don't want to be near men/women/brown people/minority, bit on the other hand, Indian men are the worst when it comes to showing respect to women. This ranges from reading the news on gangrape (reading any article you can assume "India" and be right about 60% of the time) to my wife walking on the street being followed by groups of Indian guys who apparently just never learned how to behave around women.

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 14 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Honestly I think in most cases segregation is just not the answer.

The more far away we become based on fairly arbitrary characteristics, the less there is opportunity for a meaningful dialogue that would change the status quo around the issue.

On a practical side, I wish there were proper passenger safety measures and procedures against harassment. A man is trying to do that to you? Record it and report to the crew immediately, and let them deal with the perpetrator and call police on the ground when applicable.

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 60 points 2 months ago (30 children)

I get what you're saying, but we don't fix the issue of men sexually assaulting women, especially in a country that has such profound issues with this like India, by forcing women to remain vulnerable.

If allowing women to avoid being seated next to men on flights reduces the chance of sexual assault from taking place during flights, then I am all for it.

It just needs to be understood as a harm reduction technique, not the solution to the overall societal problem.

This is like saying cars shouldn't have seatbelts because it isn't discouraging people not to crash their cars. Seatbelts don't solve this issue, they just reduce harm. Think of this airline's decision as implementing a sexual seatbelt for women.

[–] norimee@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

You put it into words perfectly. Thank you.

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[–] clot27@lemm.ee 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wake up babe, India mentioned on lemmy

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[–] buttfarts@lemy.lol 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Okay but then men are allowed to fart openly and take our shirts off in the no-women section while they drink chamomile tea and read thought provoking books about how they are okay just the way they are.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 36 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Are men allowed to buy a ticket to not sit around nude farting men

[–] Makhno@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

No. It's a rite of passage.

[–] Tja@programming.dev 8 points 2 months ago

Yes, it's called business. They fart fully clothed.

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[–] Deebster@programming.dev 10 points 2 months ago (7 children)

The airline's booking process is fairly standard except for the seat map which highlights seats occupied by women with the color pink. This information is not visible to male passengers, according to the airline, CNBC reported.

What's to stop a man from claiming to be female to see the map of where women are sitting, and then booking an adjacent seat themselves?

[–] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 17 points 2 months ago

They probably need to sign in to book, and required their data to be accurate to board.

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[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Me I don't want to sit next to a republican.

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