An athlete says she was “shamed” by a flight attendant who told her that the workout clothes she was in, consisting of Nike joggers and a crop top, were too revealing to be worn on a Southwest Airlines flight.
Maggi Thorne, who has competed on American Ninja Warrior seven times, said the flight attendant approached her and said her outfit was “inappropriate” and asked her to cover up.
Ms Thorne said she was “just in shock” after the incident happened, reported Insider.
After the incident, Ms Thorne took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to air her disappointment with the company.
She said: “[An] attendant just shamed me in front of passengers saying my attire wasn’t appropriate. A tank top and high-waisted pants. Flight 1039, is this really happening in 2023? The passengers around me were stunned as she shamed me for all to hear.”
After this, she said that the airline had issued her an apology and filed a complaint on her behalf.
Ms Thorne was on Flight 1039 from Omaha, Nebraska, to Nashville, Tennesse on Friday 1 September, with a layover in Orlando, Florida.
It was when she boarded her flight after the layover that the flight attendant approached her.
"She came over and asked me about my outfit and said that she thought it was too revealing and not appropriate for the airline," Ms Thorne told the news outlet. "It was incredibly embarrassing."
Southwest Airlines told Ms Thorne they filed a complaint on her behalf— (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS)
Ms Thorne said that she denied the request of the attendant to put on more clothes to cover up. She went to tell another flight attendant what happened, who later checked on her during the flight.
"When I told her I wasn’t OK, I don’t think she knew what to do. I’m not a confrontational person, but what happened isn’t okay and someone should say something about it," Ms Thorne said.
According to the Southwest Airlines’ passenger contract, there is no formal dress code on their journeys, it is only "wearing clothes that are lewd, obscene, or patently offensive" that is not permitted.
Southwest Airlines has another previous viral incident when actress Melinna Bobadilla was kicked off a Southwest flight, she posted on X. She said she was “slut shamed” for wearing “a tank top that was deemed too revealing.”
Another dress code incident happened in early August on an Alaska Airlines flight when passenger Sierra Steadman was shamed for wearing shorts, a crop top and a sweatshirt by a flight attendant. In a video that went viral on TikTok, the attendant grabbed Ms Steadman’s arm and yelled at her in front of the entirety of the plane.
Ms Thorne said she was yet to hear back from the airline about how they will escalate the complaint.
