Gone are the days of dressing up to go on a plane. As the seats have shrunk and the amenities disappear one by one while the checked bag policies grow more strict, it's no wonder that people are just trying to be comfortable on their flights.
Recently, however, former Playboy model Sarah Blake Cheek allegedly received some unsolicited feedback on her outfit from American Airlines before boarding her flight.
According to Cheek, it was less what she was wearing than how the outfit looked on her curvier body.
She argued that there were many other women on the flight in similar states of dress, yet she was the only one singled out by the airline staff.
Realizing that perhaps her first photo was not helping her case, she posted a follow-up full body pic for reference.
Many commenters agreed with her and argued that, unlike other women they'd seen on flights, at least she had a shirt over the athleisure outfit.
Still, a significant portion of the comments sided with American Airlines. There were varying degrees of body positivity, but the gist was that the outfit was too revealing for airline travel.
There was some nuance to the discussion, with some people commenting that they'd support the outfit in other spaces, but a flight isn't exactly the best place to wear a skintight outfit that bares your midriff.
They suggested keeping it in the gym or around the house.
Some people said that she bought the ticket and the airline chose to enforce its dress policy, so they were right to ask her to button up before getting on the plane.
American Airlines does, to be fair to Cheek, have a very loose dress code with few certainties to go by.
“Dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed.”
Short and sweet, but very much up to the interpretation of the flight crew for what is considered appropriate on a flight.
Cheek found this one out the hard way.
American Airlines reached out to Cheek in the comments with an apology and a promise to look further into the issue.
Some passengers commented that they never ran into problems like this on Southwest Airlines.
Something to consider when booking flights in the future.
The company implored Cheek to discuss the incident over private chat.
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