US Airline Hits The Headlines For Introducing A Strict Passenger Dress Code

After incidents involving inappropriate clothing among passengers, Spirit Airlines has enforced a harsher dress code for its passengers. Among the unacceptable items quoted are bare feet, offensive body art and obscene t-shirts. However, Spirit is not alone in introducing clothing regulations to avoid upsetting other passengers.

Spirit Airlines to enforce a strict dress code on passengers

The American low-cost airline has said it was necessary to enforce a stricter dress code after various incidents involving inappropriate outfits on board. Among the rules listed for the dress code, the airline will stop passengers from boarding if they are barefoot, or wearing offensive clothing.

Spirit Airlines updated its “Contract of Carriage” in January to prohibit certain items of clothing, types of body art and ways of dressing.

Under the new regulations, passengers will be stopped from boarding if they are “barefoot” or “inadequately clothed,” which is defined as “see-through clothing; not adequately covered, exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts.”

Moreover, Spirit Airlines also warns against passengers “whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature or has an offensive odor unless caused by a qualified disability.”

Reasons for introducing a stricter dress code

Meanwhile, the airline introduced stricter clothing measures after one passenger attempted to board the plane wearing a crop top, while another was dressed in a t-shirt with an obscene slogan.

Moreover, Spirit Airlines is not alone, as other airlines have strict dress codes. United Airlines states in its regulations that passengers can be turned away if they are “barefoot, not properly clothed, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene or offensive.”

Moreover, Delta Air Lines has a warning for passengers that they can be removed from the flight while barefoot, or “when the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”

European airlines can refuse passengers for inappropriate clothing

While it is not explicitly stated on their websites, European carriers also enforce dress codes. In 2024, a cabin crew member for a European airline told the UK newspaper, The Sun:

We’re well within our rights to prevent people getting on the flight and it’s used frequently for people who aren’t dressed in a way we would deem to be acceptable.

Meanwhile, they apparently cautioned Ryanair, Jet2, Easyjet and TUI passengers in particular, adding:

There are some obvious examples here, including t-shirts with swear words or offensive logos on them, which people are regularly asked to cover up, or remove, before they get on board.

In a more recent article, The Sun mentions a passenger, kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight for wearing a crop top. The passengers told the Mail Online at the time, “It’s just humiliating having to be escorted and treated like a criminal just because we were wearing crop tops,” adding:

It was such a dehumanizing experience. We wasted our time, other people’s time, our money, our dignity.