If you're flying Spirit Airlines, wearing a crop top that shows off your upper body or having certain tattoos can now be enough to get you kicked off a flight.
The airline recently updated its policy to explicitly outline passengers' unacceptable dress and appearance, going beyond the vague policies of most other airlines. In its contract of carriage, a legal document outlining the responsibilities of airlines and passengers, Spirit says that “a guest may not board the aircraft or may be required to deplane” if the passenger is “inadequately dressed” or “ whose clothing or article, including body art, is indecent, obscene or offensive in nature.”
Inadequately dressed is now defined as having naked breasts, buttocks or other genitals, or wearing see-through clothing. But what exactly constitutes an offensive tattoo is unclear.
Clearing all this up is usually the responsibility of airline employees, including the flight crew. In recent years, Spirit and other airlines have stopped passengers from boarding their flights because of all kinds of clothing or lack thereof: leggings, clothing printed with expletive-laden slogans, short shorts and not wearing a bra.
Overall, most airlines leave a lot open to interpretation, says Bobby Laurie, a former flight attendant and co-host of the travel show “The Jet Set.”
“It's very subjective,” Mr Laurie said. “What one person finds offensive or immoral, another may not.” Generally, a decision to remove a traveler from a flight requires consensus from multiple airline employees, he added.
Here's what some major domestic airlines say about the dress code for passengers in their contracts of carriage.
Spirit Airlines
The airline says it will also ban barefoot passengers from boarding.
Southwest Airlines
Passengers will not be allowed to wear clothing that is “indecent, obscene or patently offensive,” the airline said, without elaborating.
United Airlines
The airline says it will not carry barefoot passengers, or passengers who are not “properly dressed” or whose clothing is “indecent, obscene or offensive.”
Delta Airlines
Clothing that creates an “unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers” is sufficient to have a passenger removed, according to Delta's contract of carriage.
US airlines
American asks passengers to “dress appropriately.” This means no bare feet or 'offensive' clothing.
JetBlue Airways
Travelers over the age of 5 are not allowed to go barefoot, the airline says. Again, no 'indecent, obscene or patently offensive' clothing.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines also prohibits passengers from going barefoot and will remove travelers whose clothing creates “an unreasonable risk of offending or annoyance to other passengers.”
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