Mumbai, April 17:  Passengers will now have to shell out more for that middle seat on the flight, also known as the "family seat" because of the preference  given to it by families for the ease of having kids closer as Air India had decided to put a seat selection fees on most seats on its flights. Until now, the practice was to charge passengers for front row seats only on long-haul flights. The move by Air India is more in line with the practice by airline companies introducing extra fee or charge on seats of passengers choice.

According to a report in the Times of India, Air India issued a circular to travel agents listing the rates for various seats in the plane. The report mentions the prices as such: The middle seats on the domestic flights will cost Rs 100. The window or the aisle seat will make the passengers pay Rs 200 more. Compared to this, the international flight seats cost Rs 200. Interestingly, the row fee for emergency exit seats is in the range of Rs 800- Rs 1500 and varies as per routes. Rs 240 to Rs 1500 is what one has to shell out for the window or aisle seats.

In other development related to Air India, it said on Monday, April 16 that it has suspended a senior officer for "indiscipline" after he got into an altercation with a passenger over a business class seat in a domestic flight.

Following the altercation, the flight from Delhi to Amristar was delayed by more than half-an-hour. In a statement, the national carrier said the officer has been placed under suspension. "On a recent flight from Delhi to Amritsar, a senior commercial officer, who has just returned from a foreign posting got into a major altercation with a passenger over a business class seat. "The argument over such a trivial issue on a short-duration flight led to the delay of the flight by 33 minutes," it said.

Details about the suspended official and when the incident happened could not be immediately ascertained. Sending out a strong message, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola also issued an advisory urging employees to stick to high disciplinary standards."Indiscipline of any sort will not be tolerated from any employee irrespective of hierarchy or area of work," the statement said.(With Agency Inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 05:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).