by Gerhard Adam

Created on: July 08, 2008

The idea that such an incident can happen shows just how ridiculous the results can be when individual opinions are allowed to prevail.

The flight attendant was completely out of line, in effect, personally establishing company policy just prior to a flight and directed to a particular passenger. It doesn't really matter what someone's opinion of the attire is, but rather what did the airline do to ensure that this requirement was common knowledge before the ticket was purchased.

Let's consider that this woman may well have been at the ticket counter, she certainly had to proceed through security, waited around the gate prior to boarding, and finally handed her boarding pass to an attendant to board the flight. During all of these interactions, where was this "policy"? Was there any information, posted or otherwise, that would lead one to believe that their flight status could be affected by their clothing?

In truth, we know that nothing of the sort existed. This was the act of a lone individual that was clearly making decisions far above their pay grade.

I'm not particularly interested in whether anyone would be offended, or what sorts of rationalizations are offered for what transpired. The only relevant point is whether or not this "requirement" was well established and well-known before the ticket was purchased. If not, then it doesn't matter what anyone's opinion is.

In a nutshell it comes down to the fact that this woman had to interact in a variety of ways, in a public environment. If her attire wasn't sufficiently provocative to prohibit her from being in public, then the airline's, and specifically the flight attendant's, opinion is not only irrelevant, but potentially illegal.

I have no patience with organizations that profess to have policies that they simply can't be bothered to write down or articulate. If it is that important, then it needs to be publicized so that there is no ambiguity regarding the intent of the policy. Let the public know before the sale, that they face personal scrutiny and may not be able to fly based on the whims of a flight attendant.

I don't have a quarrel with the idea of a dress code, however, as stated before, this is something that needs to be stated in advance and not simply made up along the way. There is already far too much governmental and corporate intrusion into our personal lives to allow one more event dictated by people that are paying far too much attention to others.

For all those outraged individuals that feel that their kids will be permanently harmed by this type of attire, it seems pretty obvious that you haven't been on a plane in a long time. Given the crowded seating conditions, this woman would have been invisible to all the passengers, except those directly shoe-horned in next to her.

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