Some of the updates give examples for already-existing rules, but new restrictions on ‘lewd’ tattoos and body art are a new addition.
WASHINGTON — Having an “offensive” tattoo or wearing see-through clothing could get you kicked off of your next Spirit Airlines flight.
The airline recently revised its “contract of carriage” document, which outlines a code of conduct that passengers must follow. The latest update describes being “inadequately clothed” as “see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts.” It also flags having a tattoo that is “lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature.”
Did Spirit really change its dress code?
The restriction on clothing has technically been in the Spirit contract of carriage for years, but lacked specific examples until now. A previous version of the document from Jan. 2024 also prohibited passengers who were “barefoot or inadequately clothed, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature.”
That language in the older contract is similar to the updated guidelines, but left more room for interpretation by airline staff.
The new addition about body art, which appears to mainly refer to tattoos, is written in a similar way, leaving room for interpretation. The section on tattoos does not give examples of what kind of tattoo would be considered “lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature.”
Customers may need to conceal tattoos or put on additional clothing in order to meet the guidelines and be allowed on the flight.
While the updates may be new, guidelines for what airline passengers can wear have been around for years, and have caused numerous problems for fliers.
Frequent problems for female fliers
Although the Spirit document and others like it are written with unisex language, it is often women who are forced to change in order to fly.
Last year, a woman named Tara Kehidi filmed an encounter when Spirit Airlines staff asked her and a friend to leave the plane because they were wearing crop tops. CNN reported that Kehidi had to rebook with another airline, spending about $1,000.
In July 2019, a Houston doctor wearing a “jumper” (shorts and a halter top) was asked to cover herself with a blanket as a condition to fly on American Airlines.
Later that year, BuzzFeed News reported that an American Airlines passenger Swati Runi Goyal was told she had to change her shirt — one with the slogan, “Hail Satan” — or leave the aircraft. The shirt isn’t promoting Satan but instead The Satanic Temple, a group that spearheads discussion about social justice, egalitarianism and the separation of church and state.
Part of American Airlines’ conditions of carriage say passengers must “dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed.” The language gives gate agents and flight crew latitude in self-determining what dress is and is not appropriate. In Goyal’s case, the flight attendants took the message of her T-shirt in a literal way and not in the ironic way it was intended. She was cleared to fly when her husband lent her a shirt to cover up the offending T-shirt.
Pop singer Joanne Catherall was denied entry to a Qantas airport lounge in 2017 because she was wearing Ugg boots. The lounge attendant felt the footwear was “sleepwear” and not true shoes. The official Qantas policy on what types of apparel are barred from its lounges include outfits you’d wear to the gym, beachwear, sleepwear and flip-flops. Additional garments that cause trouble: clothing with offensive images or slogans, or clothes that are revealing, torn or not clean.