Woman banned from boarding flight for 'inappropriate' short skirt

IndiGo is one of India's largest budget carriers. (Reuters)

A young woman was pulled aside  while boarding a plane because airline officials deemed her attire to be “inappropriate” for flying.

The Mirror reports that the woman was attempting to catch a domestic flight in India, when a number of male employees told her that her skirt, which came to just above her knee, would need to be changed before boarding.

According to NDTV.com, Purbai Das, a fellow passenger wrote on social media: “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!”

The airline, IndiGo confirmed the incident but said the woman was travelling on a “family and friends” ticket, which requires the passenger to stick to same dress code that applies to its employees.

However, a spokesman for the airline told The Mirror that the woman, a former employee, was appropriately dressed and should not have been told to change.

“When staff followed the policy it was done in such a way that it had upset the woman and for the right reasons,” she said.

“She was not inappropriately dressed but she accepted the offer of changing and was put on a subsequent flight.

“She chose to escalate her concerns to managers, who were on her side and had assured her these members of staff who had talked with her in this way will be put back in training.”