Every so often, we see airlines remove people from aircraft for violating their vague dress codes. In this post, I’d like to talk about that in a bit more detail, because I saw some shirts at an airport today that sure caught me off guard…
In this post:
Airlines ban “offensive” clothing, but what does that mean?
Nowadays you hardly have to dress up to fly commercially, regardless of the airline that you’re flying on, or the cabin you’re flying in. Airlines do have dress codes, but they’re very basic. When passengers book air travel, they have to agree to the contract of carriage, so that’s what dictates the rules that passengers must follow.
So, what do airline contracts of carriage say regarding dress codes onboard aircraft?
- American Airlines says: “Dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed”
- Delta Air Lines says: “Delta may refuse to transport or may remove passengers from its aircraft when the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers”
- Southwest Airlines says: “Disruptive or unruly conduct includes engaging in lewd, obscene, or patently offensive behavior, including wearing clothes that are lewd, obscene, or patently offensive”
- United Airlines says: “UA shall have the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or shall have the right to remove from the aircraft at any point, any passengers who are barefoot, not properly clothed, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene or offensive”
As you can see, each airline bans “offensive” clothing, but doesn’t actually spell out what that means. That’s fair enough, and as I see it, this can be interpreted in two ways:
- Clothing can be interpreted as offensive on account of what’s written or pictured on it
- Clothing can be interpreted as offensive based on how revealing it is
There’s ultimately no data on how often dress codes are actually enforced, but at least in terms of the stories that get a lot of publicity, they tend to involve women who are on the curvier side, who get told that they need to cover up. I think there’s typically some bias there against women with certain types of bodies, and I think that’s not a great precedent.
But what kind of clothing is otherwise offensive? I mean, my inclination would be to say that if you wouldn’t feel comfortable explaining to your child what’s on a shirt, it’s probably “offensive.”
The provocative shirts I saw at the airport today
While flying out of an airport this morning prior to an American flight, I spotted a group of four people traveling together. I’d assume they were two couples, and they were probably somewhere between 50 and 70. Clearly thy coordinated their outfits, or something, because all four of them had, umm, controversial t-shirts. For example:
- One man was wearing a shirt with a picture of a confused-looking Joe Biden, which read “WHO SH*T MY PANTS?” (with the second word fully written out — it was this shirt)
- The other man was wearing a shirt that said “NEVER KILLED A MOUNTAIN LION BUT I’VE CHOKED A COUGAR” (it was this shirt)
I’m curious to hear from others — do you find one or both of those shirts to be offensive? My inclination is that they’re both offensive, and both people should be asked to cover up. Let me be 100% clear — this isn’t about my own political beliefs, or anything like that. I’d feel the same way if someone wore one of those “F*CK TRUMP” shirts, a shirt joking about Charlie Kirk being killed, etc. I think those people should be asked to change as well.
These people didn’t end up being on my flight, or else I would’ve probably given the crew a polite heads upon boarding, and then they could’ve done with that what they wanted. I would’ve said something along the lines of “hey, I’d like to give you a heads up that there will be some people boarding shortly who are violating American’s dress code against offensive clothing.”
But I don’t claim that my opinion is right. I understand it’s very hard for airlines to create specific policies around what is and isn’t allowed, since discretion is important. But I’d love to hear where others think the line should be.
Is any shirt with a cuss word on it offensive? Does it depend which word it is? What about if one of the letters isn’t written out? And then what about shirts with sexual humor, especially if they’re about potential sexual violence (hey, I get it can be a kink as well, but I’m not sure that needs to be shared in a family environment)?
Bottom line
Over the years I’ve written a good number of stories about people being removed from planes for violating dress codes. The thing is, these rules are quite vague, simply banning “offensive” clothing, whatever that means. It goes without saying that different people are offended by different things. Heck, some people may be offended by leather, furs, etc.
Where should the line be regarding what constitutes offensive clothing? Do you think it’s more about what is written or displayed on clothing, or how the clothing is worn?
Travelinwilli you are disgusting... But I do see those shirts out there and they should NOT be allowed on planes
In today's world, airlines, and especially every individual working on the frontlines are going to rather turn a blind eye to touchy subjects like this. Can you blame them?
As we can see in this comment section, people are even taking offense at someone else taking offense at something. Everything gets immediately politicized to the max and people claim their rights or feelings were violated in whatever way. So how can an airline enforce this...
In today's world, airlines, and especially every individual working on the frontlines are going to rather turn a blind eye to touchy subjects like this. Can you blame them?
As we can see in this comment section, people are even taking offense at someone else taking offense at something. Everything gets immediately politicized to the max and people claim their rights or feelings were violated in whatever way. So how can an airline enforce this if they have to expect some kind of public outcry including social media posts and videos going viral with every discussion.
Unfortunately we'll probably have to rely on people's own public decency...
What's offensive to one is not offensive to another. Someone has an issue with anything I wear they can bring their sorry Karen to my face and let me know. I doubt they are dressed well either.
Always amazing the majority in USA loves to do this to minorities as well. Fix your own sorry life before you give me any advice. I never asked for it nor would I.
How long will it be before offensive ‘T’-Shirt wearers in the U.S. will be forced to display a trigger warning placard?
Nowadays it’s hard to know what to wear nowadays.
The t-shirts are truly stupid and tell a lot about the person. But offensive? C’mon. Dont you (in US) have more important things to do then be offended by stupidity of others?
I saw a couple of shirts that were sad but true. One was a shirt that says “The fat orange Nazi rapes preteens - but only when he’s done trafficking them,” and then another one showing the fat orange Nazi on his knees, providing oral sex to Pootie. That one was funny because it was true.
I’m not sure whether or not they belong on airplanes, but they should be plastered everywhere in general.
I truly can’t conceive of anything sadder than mocking a politician who’s no longer in office or publicly visible. Like, is your sense of yourself so insubstantial that you care that much about some guy who’s already been kicked to the curb and out of public life? I mean if it were mid 2022 and people were wearing silly anti-Trump shirts after he’d lost a year and a half ago, it would be equally pathetic....
I truly can’t conceive of anything sadder than mocking a politician who’s no longer in office or publicly visible. Like, is your sense of yourself so insubstantial that you care that much about some guy who’s already been kicked to the curb and out of public life? I mean if it were mid 2022 and people were wearing silly anti-Trump shirts after he’d lost a year and a half ago, it would be equally pathetic. Or wearing shirts making fun of whatever team lost the Super Bowl or World Series months after. It’s just a sad look. Kicking the long-ago defeated is some sorry shit.
As for the question: no nudity, no f-bombs, no s-bombs on shirts on planes, including with punctuation substitutions. (“Eff” or “F” is ok, because I say so. They’re sufficiently abstracted that they don’t cause the same visceral response.)
No, it’s not really important in the grand scheme of things, but those words are intended to offend, which is why they exist. I mean, I use them in every other sentence in when speaking our native dialect in NYC, but I’m not going to knowingly offend people trapped in a tube with me for hours, because why would I want to do that?
Not everyone’s feelings deserve extra special tender consideration, but the flip side of that is that I’m not the only person who matters.
I think people who want to taunt and provoke, or signal to others in their tribe in an intentionally vulgar way, should reel it in when in a space where people literally don’t have the option to go somewhere else.
Cover your bits.
Feel free to get offended. Cabin crews have more important things to do than walk around with translation apps linked to LLMs to ensure that stuff on t-shirts isn't offensive in any possible context (bonus: good luck with anything controversial related to Palestine, Taiwan etc).
imho "offensive" is a functionally useless category because (a) the airlines correctly conclude that there's no real way to define it; meaning that (b) no one knows what would cross the line
on a practical level, i personally prefer when garbage people are considerate enough to proactively label themselves as such, so that i don't waste time helping or interacting with them
Slow news day again, Ben? A long drawn out post about provocative versus unacceptable clothing. Is this worthy of such a detailed post? Or are you looking for click bait? You have written about this in the past. What's changed other than you saw some shirts that may be objectionable. It's not up to you bring it to the crew's attention.
Ben will give you a refund on your OMAAT subscription. Now piss off.
Such a nasty and impolite response. Hope you have a better day.
Allow me to state, be clean, wear appropriate underwear. If I see a man spread in cutoffs with your junk in full view, know that I might be offended.
I have never seen anything like this ever on a commercial aircraft. You seem to be confusing this with the NYC subway, maybe (where I *have* seen this!)
TO this day, and I’m 77, I wear a sports jacket with whatever other clothing I decide to wear. The jacket gives me more pockets for those things that I need to reach quickly, I know I’m going to look decent, and I can always take it off should the need arise. I’m offended by people who wear garbage that looks like they are outside clipping weeds or washing the dog. Sadly, at least in...
TO this day, and I’m 77, I wear a sports jacket with whatever other clothing I decide to wear. The jacket gives me more pockets for those things that I need to reach quickly, I know I’m going to look decent, and I can always take it off should the need arise. I’m offended by people who wear garbage that looks like they are outside clipping weeds or washing the dog. Sadly, at least in the US, this seems to be the norm even whenever I go out to eat, and I’m not talking about some mass marketed chain either.
Coat and tie for men , dress and blouse for women , and drinks all around . The long dresses don't bother me because I have a long memory .
There was a time certain words and such were referred to as "locker room talk", which is where said phrases belong. We will never go back to the days of suit coat and tie for air travel, and given the way the airlines treat customers I see no reason to do so, but aome level of decency is needed. This extend beyond air travel- should one be in a decent restaurant in a sweat suit ? If the way one dresses defines a culture we are in serious trouble.
Timmy D’s “I’m a cuck for Delta” goes one step too far IMO
It's not only what people wear but how they present themselves. Unshowered. Uncombed/unkept hair. Clothing that looks like they pulled it out of dirty clothes hamper. Old fat men wearing wife beaters and morbidly obese women wearing hoochie shorts and tube tops.
So much for laissez-faire… No worker or consumer protections, but George will excitedly regulate dress codes! Sassy!
And hair styles. Classic nannytarianism.
Agreed Ben, definitely unimpressive clothing choices and offensive to enough people (the adults in the room, so to speak) that they should not be worn in a general public settings. I'm guessing white men wearing them though, and conservative whites get a pass for behavior that no other demographic would ever be allowed in engage in...
Tangentially, I find it interesting only Delta mentions odor/hygiene in their rules, I wonder what prompted that inclusion (when...
Agreed Ben, definitely unimpressive clothing choices and offensive to enough people (the adults in the room, so to speak) that they should not be worn in a general public settings. I'm guessing white men wearing them though, and conservative whites get a pass for behavior that no other demographic would ever be allowed in engage in...
Tangentially, I find it interesting only Delta mentions odor/hygiene in their rules, I wonder what prompted that inclusion (when the others didn't include it).
This seems intentional;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/05/13/friends-are-choosing-each-others-travel-t-shirts-it-gets-embarrassing/
Ben, I agree with you 100%. But what I find interesting is that I’m more than forty years older than you. I’m wondering how many other folks your age would agree.
I'm much less concerned with clothing/skin than I am with behaviour. And the worst behaviour on planes, 90% of the time, is alcohol-related. And the carriers serve the stuff!
Tinkering around the edges with shirt slogans and ballcap colours is missing the point. Boorish behaviour will continue as long as the culture celebrates alcohol and airlines/airport bars/lounges serve it to passengers.
If I had a choice between solving offensive shirt graphics, or solving offensive perfumes,...
I'm much less concerned with clothing/skin than I am with behaviour. And the worst behaviour on planes, 90% of the time, is alcohol-related. And the carriers serve the stuff!
Tinkering around the edges with shirt slogans and ballcap colours is missing the point. Boorish behaviour will continue as long as the culture celebrates alcohol and airlines/airport bars/lounges serve it to passengers.
If I had a choice between solving offensive shirt graphics, or solving offensive perfumes, I'd prioritize the latter first.
I am not sexist, but if women dress in a sexually suggestive fashion then they should be prevented from boarding and told to change into more respectful clothing. Too many young women dress for planes like a shift at the local brothel.
As soon as I see a woman in gym-gear; particularly leggings; when she’s not going to or from the gym, I think, “slag”. When I see a man wearing sweatpants (or shorts) in public, I immediately think of the Karl Lagerfeld quote, “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants”.
and this, in part, is why Lagerfeld will not be missed.
Not as bad as ppl wearing football shirts and shorts on flights tbh!
But either way, isnt reporting ppl for a tshirt a bit sad? If they were dirty or something thats one thing, but it should be up to the airline to police things like tshirt logos.
What about the trend of "fun shirts" people wear that say things like "ask me about my explosive diarrhea". Not good?
Please provide the website address where I can buy 5 of those Biden shirts. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time. And so very true.
As for content on T-shirts, etc., if it isn't appropriate to wear to Granma's Thanksgiving Dinner, it isn't appropriate in ANY public place.
As for revealing clothing, I have not object to people going nude if they want. It is only flesh, and some have more than others. We wore born naked and should appreciate our bodies. I wear clothes because of hygiene and warmth.
The answer to the "a confused-looking Joe Biden, which read “WHO SH*T MY PANTS?”" question is easy.
trump did when he forgot to wear his diapers.
At least his catheter saves him from double incontinence.
Totally buying the Biden shirt right now
X2
Yes, me too, but with the answer to the question on it:
"trump did when he forgot to wear his diapers."
Jackson enjoy wearing that under your white robe and hood
Buy a Trump is a kiddy fiddler one while you're at it
If you are hot, you can dress thrashy.
If you are not hot without filters, and you know who you are because you employ the said filters, dress appropriately.
If you are guy, just cover yourself up. Who cares what you are wearing.
Airlines should have a high bar for dress code enforcement unless they want to make it more specific.
- No profanity.
- No sexual content.
- Standardized body coverage expectations. Staff trained to exercise their discretion with fairness (what's too revealing for a curvy woman is too revealing for a thin woman, etc).
- Avoid policing political messages on clothing unless they contain profanity or sexual content.
As for how people...
Airlines should have a high bar for dress code enforcement unless they want to make it more specific.
- No profanity.
- No sexual content.
- Standardized body coverage expectations. Staff trained to exercise their discretion with fairness (what's too revealing for a curvy woman is too revealing for a thin woman, etc).
- Avoid policing political messages on clothing unless they contain profanity or sexual content.
As for how people should behave? Place and time.
- Pool hall or frat house? Wear that cougar shirt if you want.
- Airport? Activate the better angels of your nature. It is a virtue to walk harmoniously through communal life.
We also need to agree as a society that you age out of wearing shirts with "sly" sexual innuendo at 25. They're cringe AF in general, but you're deadass cooked if you're wearing one over that age.
Let's agree as a society.
If your parents, grandparents or boss would be offended, I don't wear it. Common sense ain't that common.
100% truth!
It’s a bloody t-shirt worn by a putz, Lucky. Get over it, there’s a billion more important things in life to worry about.
But Ronnie, Ben needs your click, that is an important thing in his life …. yes?
nonsense, both of you
I’m sure that Ben, will thank you for your carefully considered contribution Den …. :-)
One more click to his count, yes?
Anyone wearing MAGA anything should be banned from any flight
But sandiegodereck, if maybe America was ever great again then the world might be a better place for us all. That is on the pre visor that the U.S. voters can find a world class statesman/woman to elect.
at least I appreciate the honesty of you commies/fascists national socialists laborers
Think the article missed a point…women in bathing suit tops and backside area hanging out of way to short shorts. Am a flight attendant for the widget and am astounded by parents letting their teen daughters wear this attire…shame on you parents! Have asked many to cover up their bathing suit tops as well as shirts with the F word on it. %#%@#@%# using these symbols to hide the F word are allowed…never kicked off...
Think the article missed a point…women in bathing suit tops and backside area hanging out of way to short shorts. Am a flight attendant for the widget and am astounded by parents letting their teen daughters wear this attire…shame on you parents! Have asked many to cover up their bathing suit tops as well as shirts with the F word on it. %#%@#@%# using these symbols to hide the F word are allowed…never kicked off a woman during breast cancer months with”f cancer”. Interpretation…don’t agree with their choice but would not take action. Most of the ones I find offensive turn shirt inside out or put on another shirt. And the ones that are upset about it comply but love to proudly walk past the deplaning door with the F slogan back in place…think they won …no..their name willl be put in the system for future boarding scrutiny…it’s tough out here
Sorry you lost….MAGA hats bring a smile to my face while boarding
Buy First Class ticket, access the appropriate First Class lounge, then one should avoid the offensive proletariat dress code.
1990 said so!
The Biden shirt made me laugh too. That said, it could offend some people who liked him, could offend those who believe it's wrong to make fun of people with dementia, and could offend democrats. I am sure anyone who likes Trump would be offended with F Trump shirts. it would be great if things were not so divisive and we went back to arguing about which party has a better method to stimulate the economy.
Well, since Spirit went bankrupt, those people have to go somewhere...
The most offensive articles of clothing I routinely have to deal with are accessories: cell phones without headphones.
Ohh boy... OMAAT meets VFTW/National Enquirer!
Personally I don't care even if it's not my politics, but it's offensive because there are kids in public places who can read that, including the airport. It's not appropriate to subject them to profanity against the wishes of the parents.
lol. half those words are now used on broadcast TV now. it's up to parents to mind their own children and not to manage the wardrobe of. strangers, no matter how distasteful their clothes choices seem to be.
I love the Biden shirt! I ordered two! One for my wife and one for me!
I was on a flight out of Hawaii a couple years ago, terminal full of families, and a guy was wearing a "no more bullsh*t" (word spelled out) t-shirt. I have nothing against adult language in adult environments, but I do think people who wear vulgar clothing should be fined and/or not allowed to board.
Or perhaps caned, like in Singapore. I mean, wearing a shirt like that is the sartorial equivalent of spitting your gum onto the street.
What happened to the good old days when everyone dressed proper on a plane? No cuss words, sexual innuendos or offensive politics. I don't care about MAGA hat or t-shirt or attire supporting your candidate of choice during an election.
To be fair in the "good old days" there was plenty of sexual innuendos. Like, flight attendants could only be female, young, and used to face sexual harassment from married business men all the time. And they used to be called stewardesses.
Sad times indeed but we need to come up with a solution.
Keeping it classy as always, Florida.
Those days died along with steamship roast beast carved to order in coach.
The Biden shirt made me laugh tbh, but I do think it's trashy and cringe to wear shirts like this in public, and I look down on people who do
And I can wear my Fuck Donald Trump (FDT) because it actually says Foxtrot Delta Tango. IYKYK.
And I can wear my Fu$& Donald Trump (FDT) because it actually says Foxtrot Delta Tango. IYKYK.
@Jason
Be careful. @Sean M might be making moves on you soon. Unless you like that sort of thing?