A Spirit Airlines passenger claims she was banned from boarding a flight over the length of her shorts.
Tanasia Grayer was stopped by gate agents at Miami International Airport on July 16 as she tried to board a Spirit flight bound for Chicago.
The frustrated passenger claims she was wearing short athletic shorts, a cropped workout shirt and a fluffy pink robe as she tried to board the flight.
‘She stopped me and said: “You’re not getting on a plane like that”,’ Grayer told CBS News. ‘So I looked at her and I said, “Like what?” She said, “With those shorts”.’
Tensions heightened even more when Grayer’s sister Jessica Kordelewski became confrontational with airport security officials and screamed: ‘I’m confused, this is crazy, this is insane’.
Kordelewski was later arrested and accused of disorderly conduct and trespassing after being issued with a warning. She has since been released.
Grayer claims the airline ‘treated me like a criminal’ for wearing what she describes as ‘normal shorts’.
Bur Spirit claims the traveler was ‘not in compliance with our Contract of Carriage’, which details clothing standards for all passengers, and ‘refused to comply when provided an opportunity to do so’.
The airline updated its Contract of Carriage policy in January this year, issuing stricter guidelines on what passengers can wear while onboard its aircraft.
Guests will not be permitted on a flight and may be required to leave if they are ‘barefoot or inadequately clothed’.
The policy also bans clothing or body art that is ‘lewd, obscene or offensive in nature’.
Listed examples include see-through clothing that exposes breasts, buttocks or other sensitive areas.
But Grayer insists her outfit did not violate the policy, telling CBS that she wore her robe so that her clothing was ‘not too revealing’.
She argued that a staff member ‘should’ve told me’ during the 40 minutes she spent in Miami airport.
‘That way I could’ve went and changed my clothes to put anything else on,’ she said.
Grayer also claims that not only did she walk through the airport in the outfit without any incident, but also wore similar length shorts on her original flight to Miami.
Spirit, in a statement to Daily Mail, said the sisters were ‘denied boarding after displaying disruptive behavior’.
‘We always want our Guests to feel welcome and have a great experience. Consistent with other US airlines, our Contract of Carriage contains certain clothing standards for all Guests traveling with us,’ a Spirit spokesperson told Daily Mail.
‘Our records show a Guest was not in compliance with our Contract of Carriage and refused to comply when provided an opportunity to do so. The Guest and their travel companion were eventually denied boarding after displaying disruptive behavior. Further questions should be directed to law enforcement.’
The pair ended up flying home on another airline as Kordelewski is now on Spirit’s ‘no fly’ list, according to reports.
The sisters have also vowed that they ‘won’t be back in Miami at all’.
Grayer claims in the future she will avoid wearing outfits resembling the one she wore in Miami just to ensure a similar issue does not arise.