File photo of IndiGo Airlines Plane
A woman passenger was allegedly stopped from taking an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Delhi on Monday as the airline staff felt her clothes were not appropriate.
Wearing a frock, the woman had traveled from Doha on a Qatar Airways flight and was to take a connecting flight to Delhi. But after she landed in Mumbai, she was allegedly stopped from boarding the flight by IndiGo employees.
Another passenger, Purabi Das, has shared on Facebook what she calls a "disturbing instance of harassment of a young female passenger by three male IndiGo employees."
"She was not permitted to board because she was wearing a knee-length frock which was considered inappropriate wear by an airlines that has frocks of the same length for its stewardesses' uniforms! (sic)" Ms Das writes.
The woman missed her flight but was accommodated on another one after she reportedly changed into trousers.
IndiGo officials claim that she was stopped in keeping with a dress code that applies to its employees when they use "staff leisure travel privileges" offered by the airline.
The woman's sister is an IndiGo employee.
Ms Das said when she reported the incident to the airline's customer care, they argued that rules do not allow employees travelling by the airlines to wear a frock.
"Moral policing or gender bias by Indigo? Hope India's top private airlines is not going to send out this vibe on the occasion of its first IPO! (sic)" she wrote.
IndiGo has been quoted in reports as saying that it regrets that a passenger experienced "untoward behavior" at the Mumbai airport but citing guidelines that "employees and the nominated family members are required to maintain a specific dress code, as and when they fly with the airline under the staff leisure travel privileges."