When you look at photos of air travel back in the day, you see luxurious spacing between seats, passengers dressed to the nines and an amount of legroom that defies belief. Ladies demurely crossed their legs in their high heels and there was plenty of space to do so—plus stretch them out full length— while gentlemen in their full suits did the same. Today’s crush of people in sweatsuits struggling to be able to cross their legs, sometimes punching back at people reclining their seat back into their space, is a far cry from what used to be the norm. Is it just us, or did we stop dressing nicely when the seating became soul-destroying? Recently, Spirit Airlines announced a step it is taking to address the dress code, according to its Contract of Carriage regulations.
One section of this document discusses various reasons why a passenger would not be allowed to board a plane (or would be ushered off it). Among those is the new language that prohibits those who are “barefoot or inadequately clothed (i.e., see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts), or whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene or offensive in nature.” You also can’t have an “offensive odor” unless caused by a qualified disability, and boy, was I glad not to be seated next to that guy on the flight out of Ibiza who emanated his weeks of raving without showering.
It’s a good thing. No one’s saying your beautiful tattoo isn’t okay; this is for swastikas and hateful emblems. And as for your clothing, as long as you’re not wearing leather chaps or mesh, you should be okay, although the New York Times’s reporting on this mentioned that some people have been prevented from boarding Spirit and other airlines for wearing crop tops or not wearing a bra. It goes without saying that if your T-shirt carries a word that a kindergartener shouldn’t be sounding out, you can’t wear it.
Wouldn’t it be great if air travel was classy again? And although Spirit carries a somewhat unsavory reputation, it may be unearned. That refusal to even provide a free cup of water actually keeps the plane cleaner, more Spartan (and really, do we need a mid-afternoon soda and a Biscoff? Just more sugar). People take anything that’s free, but the plane is kept clutter-free if it’s not offered. Food for thought! But the true recipe for air travel reclaiming some of its cachet would obviously be more humane seating.