Every week it seems that another passenger is kicked off a plane and it’s always for a different reason. Flyers Rights Founder and Spokesperson Kate Hanni sat down with contributor Collette Torunyan to look at recent high-profile incidents and what needs to change.
Collette Torunyan: Due to the recent backlash with high-profile incidents that have occurred, do you think that a dress code, or a code of any kind, could correct this?
Kate Hanni: I don’t want to call it a “code” per se, but what we really want to see is that the airlines spell out in their contract of carriage what you cannot wear. We get thousands of calls a year on our hotline, many from people who get kicked off of planes due to the fact that they violate the crew member’s instructions. So what really needs to happen is that the airlines need to be more consistent. Some overweight passengers are getting kicked off planes for not buying a second seat but the real question should be: why were they allowed onto the plane if they didn’t buy a second seat in the first place? Where is the protocol that the airlines are following?
Instead of creating a degrading and humiliating event on an aircraft, we can protect passengers better by telling them beforehand what is and is not appropriate. However, the airlines shy away from doing that because it could be misconstrued as being discriminatory. If a flight attendant asks you to do something, even if it’s not right, you have to do it or else you will be violating a crewmember’s instructions, thereby you will be kicked off a flight.
CT: Do you feel the airlines are taking away any fundamental rights by placing these arbitrary restrictions?
KH: I think the problem is that this can’t be regulated. It’s becoming almost like martial law! The only thing that is spelled out in most airlines’ contract of carriage is that you can’t get onto a flight barefoot. However, the airlines intentionally use very general language when it comes to obeying crew member’s instructions. Most airlines contract of carriage state that if the crew member does not like the way you are dressed or your behavior, you are subject to get kicked off- but there are no specific guidelines.
This started with an incident of Kyla Ebbert, being penalized for wearing a skimpy outfit on a Southwest flight, but a week later Sports Illustrated models were plastered on the side of their planes! They denounced the girl’s clothing and branded themselves as a “family airline.” It’s sheer hypocrisy!
I think the airlines are very confused: they have no order or protocol and no standards that they have set. Our fundamental belief is that if people know what their boundaries are they will operate within those boundaries and then we can advise people.
