TORONTO – Talk about taking the term ‘wardrobe malfunction’ to the extreme.

After landing in Mumbai, India on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on Monday, a female passenger was prevented from boarding her connecting flight to Delhi with IndiGo because her dress was deemed ‘too short’ by airline staff, the Indian Express reported.

The woman, who is a former employee of the airline and was travelling on a special ticket because her sister worked for the company as well, eventually changed her attire and allowed onto a later flight.

“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,” read an IndiGo statement.

According to the Daily Mail, Purabi Das, a fellow passenger, wrote on Facebook that the woman “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.”

Airline staff allegedly told other passengers that they would also not be allowed to board the flight if they intervened in the matter. When they lodged a complaint regarding the way the woman was treated, passengers were told that staff were simply “following protocol,” reported the Daily Mail.

IndiGo is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered at Gurgaon, India. It is the largest airline in India in terms of passengers flown, operates a fleet of 98 aircraft and offers more than 647 daily flights connecting to 38 destinations.