Spirit Airlines New Dress Code Policy Can Deny Passengers from Flying

Spirit Airlines implemented a strict new dress code policy for passengers. Effective January 22, passengers wearing offensive tattoos or clothing may be removed from a flight. Passengers will have to agree to the updated contract of carriage upon reservation. 

According to the new dress code policy, Spirit Airlines can remove passengers who are inadequately clothed. This includes passengers wearing see-through clothing that exposes private parts, such as the buttocks and breasts.

The policy also makes it clear that passengers cannot be barefoot, a rule shared with other airlines. But what makes the new dress code policy unique is that even those with offensive tattoos can also be removed from their flight. 

New Dress Code Policy

Clothing infractions among Spirit Airlines passengers sparked the new dress code policy. In October, the airline removed two women wearing crop tops. The women onboard a Los Angeles-to-New-Orleans flight were not given a refund. Passengers Tara Kehidi and Teresa Araujo said to the press that  “It’s just humiliating having to be escorted and treated like a criminal just because we were wearing crop tops. It was such a dehumanizing experience. We wasted our time, other people’s time, our money, our dignity.”

And last week, a man wearing an offensive hoodie was escorted off the plane even if he eventually removed the hoodie. 

John Garcia Jr was wearing a hoodie with a text that says “FVCK HATE WORLD TOUR.” Garcia was initially confronted while placing his luggage in the overhead bin on January 13. A flight attendant first asked him if he was in the right seat. He was then told to remove his hoodie, which had “obscene language” written on it. When Garcia refused to remove the hoodie, a security guard and a male flight attendant joined to ask him to remove his hoodie. 

Garcia was removed from the flight and rescheduled on a different flight. However, he mentioned that he wore his hoodie without any problem on this flight. 

However, dress code concerns are not isolated to Spirit Airlines. In 2019, American Airlines issued an apology to passenger Latisha “Tisha” Rowe, who reported feeling humiliated after being required to cover up her strapless romper before being allowed to fly.