Two women claimed to have been kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight last Friday (October 4) because of their clothing.
Teresa Araujo, a Portuguese native, and her friend Tara Kehidi were flying from Los Angeles to New Orleans to celebrate the latter's birthday when they were kicked out of the plane due to an alleged dress code violation.
Highlights
- Women removed from Spirit Airlines flight for wearing crop tops.
- Flight attendant aggressively demanded women cover their chests.
- Passengers supported women, feeling discrimination occurred.
- Spirit Airlines offered free tickets back, no direct apology given.
"I've never experienced something like this in my five years living in the US," she said in a series of TikTok videos that went viral over the last few days.
Araujo explained how, upon boarding the plane, a male flight attendant immediately confronted them, who had opted to wear crop tops, jeans, and jumpers for the flight, and demanded that they cover their chests with their sweaters.
Two women are speaking out after they were kicked off their flight due to their outfit choices
Image credits: teresa_aroundtheworld
The situation aboard the three-hour-and-40-minute flight escalated as the steward, identified by Araujo as "Jay," forced the couple to evacuate the plane when they refused his order, despite protests from their fellow passengers.
"He got increasingly aggressive, to the point I was shaking and sweating from being so nervous," she explained, recounting how, at one point, she took her sweater off to relieve herself from the discomfort as the attendant went to speak with his team.
"As soon as he saw my bare shoulders, he said, 'That's it, you guys leave, now.'"
Image credits: teresa_aroundtheworld
Other passengers, such as a CNN reporter and a man who were recording the altercation, uploaded their points of view in the days following the altercation in support of Araujo, whom they felt was being unjustly discriminated against by the airline.
The story caught the attention of several major media outlets, forcing Spirit Airlines to issue a statement explaining that they were aware of the situation and conducting an investigation.
The carrier referred to their service's Contract of Carriage, which states that "the airline can deny a guest from boarding or require them to leave if they are barefoot or inadequately clothed, or (if their) clothing is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature."
Spirit Airlines has not apologized directly to Araujo, but they offered tickets free of charge back to New Orleans and made no mention of their dress code despite the couple wearing the same crop tops
Image credits: teresa_aroundtheworld
Speaking with the BBC, Tara Kehidi claimed they had to pay $1,000 for new tickets to arrive at their destination in Los Angeles.
Araujo then uploaded a follow-up video last Tuesday (October 8) in which she explained how the airline provided them with tickets free of charge for their trip back to New Orleans. However, she also explained that the trauma of their first encounter with the attendant still lingered on their minds as they boarded the plane.
Image credits: teresa_aroundtheworld
"I was thinking, 'my god, what if Jay's in this flight as well? What if they kick us out again?'" she said, recalling how a different steward received them and directly addressed their previous incident, stating that they "do things differently in New Orleans."
Image credits: teresa_aroundtheworld
Much to Araujo's surprise, despite wearing the same clothes she wore on the first flight, she or her friend were not asked to either cover up or leave the plane, leading her to believe Jay specifically discriminated against her.
"Spirit Airlines hasn't apologized for what happened," she explained. "But the way the new flight attendant treated us and the fact they gave us seats in the first row leads me to believe they are aware that what they did was wrong."