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IndiGo Barred Woman From Boarding Until She Changed Into Trousers

IndiGo Barred Woman From Boarding Until She Changed Into Trousers
A logo sits on the underside of the fuselage of an Airbus SAS A320 aircraft operated by IndiGo, owned by Interglobe Enterprises Ltd., as it approaches the runway to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. IndiGo, India's biggest airline by market share, is scheduled to release an initial public offering (IPO) on Oct. 27. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
A logo sits on the underside of the fuselage of an Airbus SAS A320 aircraft operated by IndiGo, owned by Interglobe Enterprises Ltd., as it approaches the runway to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. IndiGo, India's biggest airline by market share, is scheduled to release an initial public offering (IPO) on Oct. 27. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images

NEW DELHI -- In a bizarre episode, a woman passenger was not allowed to board an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Delhi because she was wearing a skirt that reportedly ended above her knees, which was regarded as inappropriate.

The woman passenger was a former staffer at IndiGo and her sister is a current employee of the airline.

Confirming the incident, IndiGo said that it has a "specific dress code,” which applies to staffers and their family members when they travel using "staff leisure travel privileges," The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

The woman passenger, who was prevented from boarding at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Monday morning, took a later flight after she changed into trousers.

Purabi Das, a co-passenger from Doha, who saw the scene unfold at the Mumbai airport, told The Indian Express that the woman was not dressed "indecently."

“While I was waiting for my connecting flight, I heard a commotion and found her crying. There were three IndiGo employees who had refused to let her board her flight. They said she was not wearing appropriate clothes,” said Das.

“Nobody raised any objection at the Doha airport. She was not indecently dressed. She was wearing a frock that ended above her knee,” she said.

In an e-mail reply to The Indian Express, IndiGo said that the woman passenger was familiar with the policy.

“We regret that an IndiGo passenger (who happens to be an ex IndiGo employee and a family member of a current employee) experienced an untoward behaviour at the Mumbai airport… As per the guidelines outlined, 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. Keeping in mind this policy, the Mumbai ground staff followed the protocol to brief this passenger on the dress code policy,” said the airline.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.