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For the first time in a while, a story involves an airline passenger clothing and not refusal to wear a mask.
Kayla Eubanks was boarding a Southwest Airlines flight this week when she was stopped by airline employees and informed that “she was violating the airline’s dress code.”
Airline staff would not allow Eubanks to board the plane.
The young woman documented the incident in a series of tweets and videos.
“Y’all I was KICKED OFF my @SouthwestAir flight because my boobs are ‘lewd, obscene and offensive,’ she wrote in a tweet. “I was told that passengers may look at me in my attire and be offended.”
She included a photo of her “offensive outfit.”
Y’all I was KICKED OFF my @SouthwestAir flight because my boobs are “lewd, obscene and offensive.” I was told that passengers may look at me in my attire and be offended. The attire in question: https://t.co/tOAxZsFDU5 pic.twitter.com/S9W9gFXpg6
— Kayla Eubanks (@UziSuzy) October 6, 2020
In another tweet, Eubanks wrote: “I really wanna know why @SouthwestAir is policing my clothes like this. How will my shirt impact my flight, for myself, the other passengers or even the pilot? Y’all have a dress code for CUSTOMERS who pay to get on a plane? It’s the constant policing of women’s bodies for me.”
I really wanna know why @SouthwestAir is policing my clothes like this. How will my shirt impact my flight, for myself, the other passengers or even the pilot? Y’all have a dress code for CUSTOMERS who pay to get on a plane? It’s the constant policing of women’s bodies for me.
— Kayla Eubanks (@UziSuzy) October 6, 2020
Eubanks then asked an airline employee to find the “dress code policy” being enforced. In the video, Eubanks says she waited for 20 minutes while the employee looked for the policy.
The @SouthwestAir employee stopped looking for this policy and caught the Captain coming out of the bathroom and asked him to intervene. He literally comes out saying that they’re hating on me 🙃. pic.twitter.com/oJ4yqe9hLq
— Kayla Eubanks (@UziSuzy) October 6, 2020
The captain eventually loans Eubanks a shirt to put on and she complies just to get on the plane.
She later takes the shirt off and supervisors confronted her upon landing. The supervisors took sides with employees and said the top “revealed quite a bit” and that “maybe others on the aircraft” will consider her top to be offensive.
https://twitter.com/UziSuzy/status/1313621606367981568
The Daily Dot reached out to Southwest Airlines for a statement and received this response: “Our Employees are responsible for the well-being and comfort of everyone on board the flight. We do our best to promote a family-centric environment, and we count on our Customers to use good judgment and exercise discretion while traveling. Regarding our policies, each situation is very different, and our Employees are responsible for following our Contract of Carriage, which is available on our website. The Customer was allowed to travel on her scheduled itinerary, and we also reached out to her directly to apologize for her experience and provide a refund of her fare as a gesture of goodwill.”
In my opinion, the airline employees spent more time drawing attention to the outfit and then stating “maybe” other people would be offended.
With COVID-19 still a huge issue, and just boarding a flight being a stressful affair, I feel that others on the aircraft wouldn’t give a crap what Eubanks was wearing so long as she was wearing a mask.
[via The Daily Dot]
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