United Airlines has come under some serious scrutiny because of two young teens who were not allowed to board a flight because they were wearing leggings. It seems the teens were flying utilizing a pass from a United worker. Now what people don’t quite understand is when you are flying with a non-compensated type of ticket such as a buddy pass, friends and family or anything that here the company isn’t generating revenue they can dictate whether you can board the aircraft or not. The judgement is left up to the customer service employee. Below is snapshot of the rule regarding dress according to United Airlines as posted by www.flyzed.info
When the people fail to adhere to the rules and then want to hold the company accountable for their inconvenience the something is just not clicking. EarHustle411 does not think leggings are in poor taste as it relates to apparel however the rules are the rules. Just in case no one noticed a “pass rider” constitutes a free ticket. This rule applies to any employee traveling as well. So in retrospect to the issue it definitely lies with the employee because he/she should have made sure they informed the travelers of the dress code and all of this possibly never would have happened.
Read more as reported by the New York Post:
United Airlines forced a 10-year-old flier to change her clothes and barred two other female passengers in their early teens from boarding a flight Sunday morning — because they were wearing leggings.
The move sparked online outrage and debate over whether United was being sexist and body-shaming the young girls. But company officials said the girls were subject to a stricter dress code because they were flying free as relatives of a United employee.
“It’s Leggings-gate! This was not a private conversation. [United] humiliated everyone. They’re sexualizing young girls,” witness Shannon Watts told The Post after tweeting about the incident before hopping her own separate flight.
But United says the girls had free friends-and-family tickets from a United worker and that the airline requires such travelers to adhere to its employee dress code while flying.
“When we travel, we are representatives of [United], so we want to look our best and follow all rules associated with that privilege,” said company spokesman Jonathan Guerin. “It’s casual — you don’t have to wear business attire. We want employees and family and friends to travel comfortably. The attire of that traveler did not meet our rules.”
Gate agents make that determination on a case-by-case basis, but a fare-paying passenger can board a United flight in stretchy pants, he said.
Pass travelers are assigned whatever seats were available, and there is often no indication that they are related to employees, but the rule still applies, according to Guerin.
The 10-year-old donned a dress over her leggings and was allowed to board the Denver-to-Minneapolis flight, but the two teens traveling with her stayed behind and “will modify their clothing to be in compliance and will continue their journey to [Minneapolis],” Guerin said.
Watts contends the girls’ dad was wearing shorts that were no more appropriate than tight leggings and maintains the policy is sexist.
“The dad had khaki shorts that did not cover his knees, but his girl had to put on a dress,” she said. “It’s sexist.”
Source: New York Post