I haven’t seen pics of the 10 year old girls. I mean, were these tight leggings with short tops - or just typical 10 year old little girl stretch pants leggings??? Were they acting out in any other way?
I’m seeing online that United didn’t have a problem using leggings in an ad of theirs…
Edited to delete the link because it resulted in a photo post…
If you are flying nonrev, the gate agent is your friend. Rule #1: You don’t cause extra work, you don’t make their life more difficult than it already is, you follow the rules.
I was in the park today, looking at the families out for a walk. I happened to notice that virtually all the little girls were wearing leggings. It’s ridiculous to expect girls on planes to not wear the normal clothing that girls wear.
Want to wear what all the other kids wear? Buy a ticket like all the other kids did.
Want a special ticket? Follow the special rules.
IMO.
I understand they can make rules, and extra rules for the pass fliers, but it seems that the rules they make always hit women harder. And also young men who wear their pants low. Basically young AA men and young women are the ones who are pulled out of line.
The 10 year old was allowed on after putting a dress on over her other clothes. I would be very, very angry if my child was treated that way for dressing normally!
If you were an employee or flying under an employee pass, you’d know the rules and follow them, @greenwitch. And, no, in my experience the dress code rules are enforced regardless of race, gender, or age.
Here’s what appears to be United’s nonrev dress code. Dress codes will vary from airline to airline and you can see other’s at the same website, assuming it is well updated.
The nonrev passengers often are standby, so they get the last seats, between paying passengers. How do people know they are United workers or friends/kids/freebees? They tell them when they are on the plane. My brother has a friend who works for the airline and he gets freebees sometimes. He follows the rules and tries to fit his huge frame in whatever seat they give him.
You really do not mean something like this, do you?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa
Exactly. You’re flying on a free pass, follow the rules. If you don’t like them, don’t take the pass. The employee who gave them the pass will probably lose his or her privileges, and if people flying on these passes make trouble for the airlines, these great deals will disappear. Sit down, shut up, and keep your feet off the seats if you’re a pass holder. It’s a privilege that can disappear in a minute, and why would you want to give the employee who gave you FREE TICKETS in hot water? People can be so self absorbed and entitled. You have no rights on a pass, and causing a scene because you’re told to change your clothes? Groan.
To be fair, it wasn’t the family who caused an issue or sent the tweets, it was someone standing near the area when the gate agent told them they’d need to change. We don’t really know if it was a big to-do or something minor that others turned into a big deal.
The two girls had to take another flight, but that might have been the case anyway - they were stand-by. There are several DEN-MSP flights daily.
True, there could be exaggerations. The article talks about a “frantic mother” and “tense exchanges”. Perhaps it’s all a lot of hyperbole.
While it may be consistent with their rules for these particular pass travelers, United’s continued attempts to explain it are not a good look PR wise. A 10 yo in leggings is not something most of the traveling public has an issue with. As someone else noted, these dress codes tend to fall more harshly on women. And since United themselves has used images of women and children in leggings in their own publicity repeatedly, it just makes them look hypocritical and medieval. This is the time that an apology and a brief “we are reviewing our policies” statement would go a lot further than trying to defend it. Particularly since Dad was allowed to travel wearing shorts.
I’m very happy to read the levelheaded commentary on this thread. The rest of the internet seems to have missed the part about the passengers flying on passes.
I’ve flown on “buddy passes” a few times, and the airline employees who’ve provided them have been very clear about the rules: respect the strict dress code; understand the standby rules; be prepared to be stranded for days if all flights are full.
I don’t really care about the rule and would literally never fly United (or any other US-based airline) unless there were zero alternatives, but United is dumb if it adheres to this rule in the face of the public flogging they’re getting. Which makes the company look worse, a 10-year-old in leggings or a mass media PR controversy?
This also caught my eye when I read the article:
I’m not taking a position on it (again, I don’t really care), but it would be pretty naive to think a whole lot of people won’t see that as a double standard.
It’s also pretty darn predictable that people will look upon this claim with skepticism:
I fly a lot, and I’ve never seen any other passenger and thought to myself “that person is representing the airline.” How would other travelers even know? Why would they care? Doesn’t really matter to me, but again, it’s boneheaded to not realize that many people will consider such a policy arbitrary at best and regressive or controlling at worst.
If you (generic “you”) happen to be up at the counter for some reason to talk to the gate agent, you can frequently figure out who is a nonrev passenger. I agree with @busdriver11 - and as an airline employee I respect her opinion. Everyone I know who works for an airline or is a family member of an airline employee knows the rules about dress policy. They have 2 choices- take it or leave it. I agree that they should be consistent between male/female dress codes, but if someone wants to fly for free, follow the rules. Period. I get more annoyed when a nonrev passenger gets to fly first class. Why not upgrade a paying passenger and let the nonrev fly in coach. JMO.
Shorts that are no more than 3 inches above the knee fit the dress code, @marvin100. Had the girls been wearing shorts like that, they would not have had an issue. This isn’t a gender thing.
This was just a segment on GMA. I thought they did a very fair explanation, and clarified that the dress code for nonrev/ highly discounted passengers (employee/buddy pass passengers) differs from paying passengers. Its also all over facebook.
Someone posted on facebook that their daughter was wearing jeggings and the high % of spandex caused problems for her in the pressurized cabin, causing circulation problems with swelling ad sweating. She had to go into the lavatory, take off the jeggings and stay under a blanket for the rest of the flight. Anyone herd of this?
You don’t have to convince me, @doschicos , you (or United, rather) has to convince angry Twitter. And so far United’s taken a bath. Like I said–I don’t care, but it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise that people are taking this very badly and seeing it as a double standard, and United is paying the bad PR price for enforcing what appears to be an arbitrary policy on innocent kids (and then doubling down on Twitter).
Interesting note about the woman who posted the tweet:
http://momsdemandaction.org/ She has a strong voice. Perhaps she was not initially aware of the nonrev status and dress code policy for these passengers. In her later tweets she addresses what she feels is a sexist policy.