The type of clothing people choose to wear while flying varies widely depending on the individual and the reason for the trip.
Business travelers on their way to a meeting as soon as they hit the ground can often be seen all dressed up and ready to go during the flight.
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Vacationers tend to dress more on the casual side. When the flight involves a dramatic change in climate from the departing airport to the destination, travelers can choose whether to dress in advance in attire appropriate for the new temperatures.
Some passengers dress entirely for comfort, preferring to travel dressed in sweats and slippers.
Rarely, it seems, does anyone care how others are dressed. Travelers are generally focused on getting themselves from one place to another safely, without incident, and hopefully with a reasonable degree of comfort.
Sometimes a disagreement about attire causes controversy
That can all change when one person takes issue with another's choice of attire. This happened recently on a Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) flight from Omaha, Neb. to Orlando, Fla., according to View From the Wing.
Maggi Thorne, a repeat competitor on NBC's (CMCSA) -) reality show 'American Ninja Warrior,' took to X (formerly Twitter) Sept. 1 to describe the incident.
"@SouthwestAir attendant just shamed me in front of passengers saying my attire wasn’t appropriate," Thorne wrote. "A tank top and high waisted pants. Flight 1039,Is this really happening in 2023? The passengers around me were stunned as she shamed me for all to hear."
@SouthwestAir attendant just shamed me in front of passengers saying my attire wasn’t appropriate.A tank top and high waisted pants.Flight 1039,Is this really happening in 2023? The passengers around me were stunned as she shamed me for all to hear. pic.twitter.com/weWGQifv3h
— Maggi Thorne 🎀 (@Nvr_GvUp) September 1, 2023
Southwest, for its part, followed up with an apologetic tweet.
"Hi there, Maggi," wrote someone identifying themsleves as Tiara for @SouthwestAir. "I'm sorry that your encounter with our Flight Attendant left you doubting our commitment to Customer Service. Feel free to DM us your confirmation number or the departure city, and we'll be happy to follow up with you and get your concerns documented."
Hi there, Maggi. I’m sorry that your encounter with our Flight Attendant left you doubting our commitment to Customer Service. Feel free to DM us your confirmation number or the departure city, and we'll be happy to follow up with you and get your concerns documented. -Tiara https://t.co/mQmfkYedD3
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) September 1, 2023
The episode recalled a January 2022 incident when former Miss Universe and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model Olivia Culpo was asked by American Airlines (AAL) -) to cover up on a flight to Cabo.
Even further back, in 2007, Southwest made headlines by removing Kyla Ebbert from an airplane in an episode that made her and her outfit known as 'too sexy to fly."
At the time, Southwest had a little fun with the matter in a promotion it put into place soon after, writing the following in a statement:
Southwest Airlines today faces the bare facts and reveals the naked truth by issuing an apology to its Customers who have commented about its handling of a few who were dressed in revealing clothing. Southwest has lowered its already skimpy fares to "mini-skirt" size of $49 to $109 one-way.
"Some have said we’ve gone from loving hot pants to having hot flashes but nothing could be farther from the truth," said Southwest’s CEO Gary Kelly. "The publicity caught us with our pants down, quite frankly. The story has such great legs, but we have an even better sense of humor, so we're going to jump out there and lower our fares to match the mini skirts we’ve all been hearing so much about."
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