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 common first step for passengers involved is posting their grievances on social media.
Aurora Culpo and her girl Olivia, a design and past Miss Universe, had to cover up their dark sports bra and walking pants with a sweatshirt before taking an American Airlines flight to Cabo San Lucas in 2022. Aurora, who was traveling with her girl, slammed American on social media.
Tisha Rowe, a physician in Houston, also publicly criticizes the Fort Worth-based company over a July 2019 event where she was asked to cover up her “very revealing” floral dress with a cover on a journey from Jamaica to Miami.
Another highly anticipated event occurred on Alaska Airlines in August 2021 when officers removed a passenger’s crop top and dark clothes from the aircraft while they were escorted. The rider, Ray Lin Howard, a self-described hairdresser and singer who goes by Fat Trophy Wife online, posted a picture on TikTok 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 rights lawyer Gloria Allred. Lisa Archbold claimed she was “treated like a criminal” on a flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco because 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 sweater over her “revealing” attire was allowed to take off.
In late March, Allred and Archbold were seated alongside one another against the backdrop of bras hanging from a clothes rack and held a press conference titled “A female pilot’s breasts vs. Delta Air Lines.” Allred even requested a conference with its leader and sent a letter to Delta urging the Atlanta-based provider 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 king
Before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, American citizens paid top dollars for airline reservations and dressed up in three-piece matches, clothes, 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.
The normal first thing passengers onboard a flight do is complain on social media when they are targeted for their fashion choices. ( Nathan Dennette/The Canadian Press )
However, the general ambiguity of aircraft policies may be attributable to the new trend standard of dressing along, even taking into account the new standard of dressing down.
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 appearance-related standards. Delta, for example, says when a passenger’s “conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers”, they can be removed from the aircraft.
American Airlines simply states its passengers must “dress appropriately, bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed”. Spirit Airlines also bans barefoot passengers, as well as clothing that is “lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature”.
Out of the U. S. carriers’ policies that CNN Travel reviewed, Hawaiian Airlines ‘ is the most detailed. Under Rule 13, Refusal to Transport, 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 blocked two teenage girls from flying on a 2017 flight because they were wearing leggings, which the airline later defended on social media.
“Gender-focused fashion issue”
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 podcast” Were You Raised by Wolves”?
“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 Seattle- based travel writer who worked as a flight attendant for a U. S. 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 wasn’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.’ By denying Ms. Archbold the right to travel in a T-shirt that would be perfectly appropriate for a man, Delta discriminated on the grounds of sex.
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 of the possibility of in-flight trouble that can arise from, say, an ostensibly harmless slogan on a T-shirt. In order to do so, on-the-ground staff and flight attendants aim to resolve any potential issues well before takeoff, she says.
“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 be the police on fashion.
CNN Travel reached out to the media departments of nearly a dozen major U.S. and international carriers for feedback on their dress codes and how to respond to complaints.
In this file photo, travellers line up at the Ottawa International Airport, as airlines cancel or delay flights during a major storm in Ottawa, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
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. Southwest employees are instead accountable for using their judgment to ensure everyone’s comfort and safety while adhering to our contract of carriage, he wrote.
The contract only stipulates that transportation may be denied to barefoot passengers and those with “an offensive odor” when it comes to personal appearance and hygiene.
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) risk inconveniencing hundreds of other passengers by causing flight delays.
According to aviation website Simple Flying, addressing potential disruptions before a flight requires a lot of time and collaboration among airline staff, including the captain (also known as the pilot in charge), who ultimately has the final say on whether a passenger will be denied boarding.
Passengers who feel they have been unfairly treated can always lodge a grievance with 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 an incident posted on X on April 1 that they were denied boarding after paying US$2, 000 for a first-class ticket because they were dressed to “offend” someone.
Both the passenger and the carrier didn’t respond to requests for comment, so it’s unclear what the outcome was. However, passengers should also keep in mind that any out-of-pocket expenses resulting from being denied boarding due to their attire are unlikely 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 Faye Travel Insurance, told CNN Travel via email.
Teachable moment
Following a simple etiquette rule that also applies to other crowded spaces like elevators and subways, Leighton, the etiquette expert, notes that other passengers can play a role in avoiding a potentially problematic wardrobe situation.
“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 helpful for some passengers, according to Kristy Alpert, a writer who was originally from the United States and has traveled to all seven continents, especially for those who are used to certain cultural norms in some Western nations.
“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. Therefore, I don’t give up my right to choose what I wear 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.”