Two Southern California women say they were kicked off a Spirit Airlines plane last week because they were wearing crop tops. Flight attendants told the friends to disembark before the plane departed from Los Angeles International Airport, they told local news outlets.
Friends Tara Kehidi and Teresa Araujo were wearing sweaters when they boarded the plane, but they took them off because the air conditioning wasn’t working.
“We were wearing crop tops… you could see a little bit of our stomachs,” Kehidi told ABC News affiliate KABC. When a male flight attendant told her and Araujo to “put something on,” the friend asked: For example, is there a policy that says you can’t wear crop tops on a plane?”
Another woman, who was sitting in the row in front of Kehidi and Araujo, told the station that most passengers had to remove their sweaters because of the temperature on the plane.
“I said, ‘If your body is inappropriate, so is my body because I’m wearing a crop top under my sweater.’ And I took off my sweater and said, I thought, “If they’re going to kick you off the plane, they’re going to have to kick me and my toddler off the plane, too,” said Carla Hager, who was traveling with her child. Masu.
Kehidi and Araujo eventually offered to put their sweaters back on, but all three women and Hager’s infant were removed from the plane without refunds.
“Everyone on the plane was looking at us,” Araujo said. She said she and Kehidi felt “being treated like criminals.”
Most airlines have dress codes, but they are often vague and enforcement is left to flight attendants, leading many female passengers to point out sexist disparities in enforcement. Masu.
Spirit Airlines said in a statement to KABC: “Our Conditions of Carriage (the document that all guests agree to when booking with us) contains specific dress standards for all guests traveling with us. We are looking into this matter. , we are reaching out to our guests about their experiences.”
Airlines’ conditions of carriage state that passengers can be asked to leave a flight if they are “inappropriately dressed or if their clothing is obscene, indecent or offensive in nature.” It states that there is.
Kehidi and Araujo ended up spending $1,000 to rebook a Delta flight to New Orleans to celebrate Kehidi’s 30th birthday.
They told KABC they are interested in taking legal action against Spirit. The low-cost airline has a history of headline-grabbing scandals, including putting unaccompanied minors on the wrong flights and stranding thousands of passengers with cancellations and delays.
