As what is or is not inappropriate regarding tattoos is open to what can sometimes be extremely subjective interpretation, disputes around this subject regularly pop up.
An Alaska Airlines passenger once claimed she was removed from a flight due to heavy tattoos. In December 2024, Hawaiian Airlines customer service agent Tracy Sialega-Fili said she was fired from a role she held for nearly four years over a traditional Samoan tattoo common to her culture.
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As a result, airlines are tweaking their policies regarding passengers to avoid situations that can be open to interpretation. The latest decision by Spirit Airlines may seem particularly harsh.
Spirit Airlines announced a new rule regarding customer tattoos that could raise eyebrows.
Spirit Airlines takes firm stance on clothing, tattoos
After an incident in which three African American passengers who asked to leave their flight sued the airline for discrimination, American Airlines AAL clarified its policy to make it more difficult to remove passengers based on things like clothing, appearance, and tattoos.
Low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines (SAVE) is taking the opposite approach.
The discount airline is making it easier to remove passengers who wear see-through clothing, have “obscene or offensive” tattoos, or are “barefoot or inadequately clothed.”
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“A guest shall not be permitted to board the aircraft or may be required to leave an aircraft if that guest […] is 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,” the contract of carriage updated on Jan. 22, 2025, reads.
Who deems your in-flight outfit offensive? Usually, the flight attendant
Other reasons a passenger can be removed include having a contagious disease like chicken pox, a body odor noticeable to multiple other passengers, or refusing to wear a seat belt during the flight.
The policy wording also gives the airline recourse when someone boards wearing clothing with racist or lewd slogans or clearly offensive tattoos.
That said, the individual crew members on board can interpret whether clothing and body art are offensive.
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While the captain ultimately has the final say on passenger removal, the power to do so over things like clothing is often delegated to the senior flight attendant in charge.
In October 2024, two women traveling on a Spirit flight from Los Angeles to New Orleans said they were asked to disembark because they were wearing crop tops that were deemed too revealing.
In describing the incident to a local TV station, Tara Kehidi and Teresa Araujo said that a male flight attendant kept telling them to “put something on.” They questioned why they were being singled out before they were ultimately removed from the flight.
In its own statement on the incident, Spirit defaulted back to the contract of carriage, which states that “making a reservation with us includes certain clothing standards for all guests traveling with us.”
Similar incidents on other carriers, such as Southwest Airlines, involved passengers who wore tight leggings or clothing in which undergarments were either partially or fully visible.
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