It has happened to a concept, a medical doctor and a stylist, along with many other airline people: being singled out or denied boarding on a flight for their style options.
The normal first step for the passengers involved is to publicly discuss their grievances on social media.
Aurora Culpo and her girlfriend Olivia Culpo, a design and past Miss Universe, boarded an American Airlines flight to Cabo San Lucas in 2022 with her dark sports bra and walking pants and sweater. Aurora, who was traveling with her girl, slammed American on social media.
Tisha Rowe, a Houston- based practitioner, even the Fort Worth- based ship over a July 2019 incident in which she was asked to cover up her” to revealing” decorative outfit with a blanket on a flight from Jamaica to Miami.
Another highly anticipated event occurred on Alaska Airlines in August 2021 when the airline removed a flight with a crop top and a dark pants. The rider, Ray Lin Howard, a self-described hairdresser and singer who goes by Fat Trophy Wife online, of herself being interrogated by officials after the journey, which she was permitted to board. The movie has more than 1.5 million loves and has been shared more than 10, 000 days.
After an affair on Delta Air Lines in January 2024, a customer just went one step further and retained prominent civil right lawyer Gloria Allred. Lisa Archbold claimed on a flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco that she was upset that she didn’t put a bra under her top. She claims the gate agent escorted her off the plane, and that only after she put a shirt on top of her “revealing” dress was was she allowed to board.
In later March, Allred held a press conference titled “Sitting alongside Archbold against a backdrop of underwear hanging from a clothes cabinet.” Allred requesting a conference with its leader and urging the Atlanta-based aircraft to change its policy.
“Delta’s existing policy, which is very personal, has been applied in a discriminatory sense and resulted in diverse care and abuse of people like Ms. Archbold”, Allred wrote.
Relaxation is prince
Before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, American citizens paid top dollars for airline reservations and dressed up in three-piece suits, garments, and high heels as well.
Now, comfort is king, and along with shifting social norms and trends for as athleisure, most contemporary- day economy cabins are populated with passengers wearing jeans, T- shirts, hoodies, turn- flops and sometimes even pajamas.
However, the general ambiguity of airline policies can be partially attributed to the new norm of dressing down, which allows for the fashion friction between passengers and airline staff.
A passenger agrees to the terms of the carriage contract when they purchase an airline ticket. That’s a legal document that outlines the airline’s policies. But some airlines don’t have an official dress code per se, instead, buried deep in that contract of carriage, is a line or two about what’s prohibited. For many airlines, bare feet is a definite no- go.
Additionally, airlines may set other rules for appearance. Delta, for example, says when a passenger’s “creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers”, they can be removed from the aircraft.
American Airlines must “dress appropriately, bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed”. Spirit Airlines also, as well as clothing that is “lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature”.
Out of the US carriers’ policies that CNN Travel reviewed, Hawaiian Airlines’ is the most detailed. Under, Hawaiian clearly states what’s not allowed on board: bikini bottoms, Speedos and bare feet, along with clothing that’s “lewd, obscene, or patently offensive to others”. It also specifies clothing must “cover the upper part of the torso”– but clarifies that tank tops, tube tops, and halter tops are allowed ( as are shorts, but with no specifications about length ).
Meanwhile, passengers flying on guest or buddy passes provided by airline employees – non- rev passengers, in aviation lingo – might be under increased scrutiny for their attire, which can also come as a surprise. A United Airlines employee made the decision to stop two teenage girls wearing leggings on a flight in 2017 after they were denied entry by the airline on social media.
“Gender-focused fashion problem”
The stickiest aspect of most policies is the inherent ambiguity around what terms such as “appropriately”, “lewd” and “offensive” mean, giving airline staffers plenty of leeway in determining what will fly.
What is deemed appropriate or acceptable varies greatly depending on the geographic areas the airline serves, according to Nick Leighton, a Manhattan-based etiquette expert and co-founder of the.
“Airlines get to decide]their policies], but what cultural standard is it”? Leighton tells CNN Travel. “Is it going to be the Delta headquarters in Atlanta, which is going to be different from, you know, Provence or Los Angeles”?
These contradictions, in addition to the disparate cultural backgrounds and backgrounds between airline employees and passengers, may make some passengers more targeted than others.
Women, for example, make up the majority of the most publicized incidents. Mary Jo Manzanares, a who worked as a flight attendant for a US carrier for 33 years, acknowledges there’s “a fair amount of body shaming” involved in many incidents she sees in the media.
“It’s got to do with skimpy attire, ]and ] that’s generally focused on women, although, to be fair, a man boarding in his Speedo is probably going to elicit the same response”, she says. “But there’s no doubt about it – it’s a gender- focused fashion issue. I wish that it wa n’t”.
In her letter to Delta’s president, Allred also emphasized that imbalance, citing the airline’s contract of carriage that states the carrier ‘may not refuse to provide transportation based upon … sex.’ Because it discriminated against Ms. Archbold on the grounds of denying her the right to travel in a T-shirt that would be perfectly appropriate for a man.
Manzanares claims that during her decades as a flight attendant, she was fortunate enough to only encounter a” small handful” of attire-related incidents. She also makes note that many passengers are unaware of the potential for in-flight trouble that may result from, say, an ostensibly harmless slogan on a T-shirt. According to her, on-the-ground staff and flight attendants aim to resolve any potential issues well before takeoff.
“You’ve got to make your priority resolving things on the ground, making sure that there is no aggression”, Manzanares explains. “When you go to 30, 000 feet, you may have passenger conversation or banter or inappropriate comments between passengers, add in a little alcohol, and you may be making an unscheduled landing. And no one wants that”.
Nobody wants to control the fashion industry.
CNN Travel reached out to the media departments of nearly a dozen major US and international carriers for feedback on their dress codes and how to respond to complaints.
Only two responded: a spokesperson for KLM and Air France, who declined to comment, and a Southwest spokesperson who told CNN Travel via email the carrier doesn’t have an official dress code. Instead, he wrote, Southwest “employees are responsible for using their judgment to ensure the comfort and safety of all while following our.” The contract only stipulates that barefoot passengers and those with” an offensive odor” may not be allowed to travel.
Not surprisingly, the task of monitoring passengers’ attire – and asking them to cover up if necessary – isn’t exactly a pleasant one for flight attendants either. The last thing we want to do is turn into the fashion police, Manzanares says.
However, as recent headlines suggest, passengers who push boundaries with what they wear (or don’t wear) run the risk of inconveniently putting themselves in an uncomfortable situation as well as inconvenience hundreds of other passengers by causing flight delays.
The captain ( also known as the pilot in charge ), who ultimately has the final say on whether a passenger will be denied boarding, is required to work together and save valuable time before a flight in order to prevent potential disruptions, including the captain ( also known as the pilot in charge ).
Passengers who believe they have been unfairly treated can always complain to the airline or the transportation department. However, there are no guarantees regarding compensation or refunds, which are typically made on a case-by-case basis.
In other words, passengers who are denied boarding because of their attire could have to pay the price for their non-used ticket ( and possibly rebooking as well ). An American Airlines passenger claims in a letter that they were denied boarding after paying $2, 000 for a first-class ticket because they were dressed up to “offended” someone.
Both the passenger and the airline didn’t respond to requests for comment, so it’s unclear what happened. However, passengers should also keep in mind that any out-of-pocket expenses resulting from being denied boarding because of their attire are not likely to be covered by travel insurance.
“Based on my 20+ experience in travel insurance … I have never seen a travel insurance provider cover such incidents”, Jeff Rolander, vice president of claims at, told CNN Travel via email.
Teachable moment
Following a straightforward etiquette rule that also applies to other crowded environments like elevators and subways, Leighton, the etiquette expert, suggests that other passengers can help by preventing a potentially problematic wardrobe situation by placing themselves in your own little bubble and not interfering with anyone else’s bubble.
“That’s why, for example, it’s OK to eat your meal when you’re served”, he explains. “You don’t have to wait for your row to be served – it’s not a dinner party. We’re not together, we are going to pretend we are alone. And so a lot of etiquette is just like,’ Pretend that this thing isn’t happening.”
When something is particularly difficult to ignore, such as an obscenity on a T-shirt when flying with young children, Leighton advises parents or caregivers to turn it into a “teachable moment” by stating that “this is not an appropriate way to dress on an airplane, and it’s happening, but just so you know, in our family, that’s not what we would do.”
A mental shift of sorts can be beneficial for some passengers when making in-flight wardrobe selections, especially those who are used to certain cultural norms in some Western countries, according to Kristy Alpert, a writer originally from the United States who has traveled to all seven continents.
“It’s not me relinquishing my freedom to dress how I want to dress – it’s me showing others a kindness”, explains Alpert, whose father is a retired Delta pilot. It’s not me giving up my right to choose what I wear, so I’m not going to do that by not wearing super-short shorts or wearing a logo that I know will offend someone. It’s me being a world traveler, being a global citizen”.
Leighton, meanwhile, says much of the trouble could be avoided if passengers choose their in- flight outfits with personal safety in mind – and, more specifically, how certain clothing and footwear would fare in an emergency situation.
“I want to make sure that if I have to leave this plane in 90 seconds, I’m dressed appropriately”, he explains.
I always fly with natural fibers, long pants and sleeves, and closed-toed footwear because I personally wouldn’t want to be trying to evacuate an aircraft or flee on tarmac in a tight mini skirt or open-toed sandals. Therefore, perhaps the focus should be “You need to dress safe.”