Just when you though airlines had learned their lesson and their PR staff were getting a well-deserved break, Thomas Cook staff have swooped in to outfit-shame a 21-year-old woman.
The airline has been forced to publicly apologise to Emily O’Connor, a passenger from Birmingham, who claims she was left ‘shaking and upset’ after being told to cover up because her outfit ’caused offence’.
What sort of thing could the young woman be wearing to cause such outrage, you ask?
A slogan t-shirt with the confederate flag? One of the reams of pieces released of late which appear to depict blackface peddled by high end fashion houses?
That jumper in which a clever kid found a funny profanity?
Nope. Emily was wearing a bralette. I repeat: A plain black bralette and some high-waisted orange trousers the likes of which anyone can freely buy in pretty much any single high street shop right now.
It seems there are no bounds to the wardrobe choices women can expect to be told to change.
Emily took to Twitter to recall the incident, during which the outfit was deemed ‘inappropriate’ by the flight manager and four staff who surrounded her and threatened to remove her from the plane unless she put a jacket on.
She tweeted:
I was given a jacket by my cousin sitting at the front of the plane and they did not leave until I physically put it on.
They made comments over the speaker about the situation and left me shaking and upset on my own.
Emily, who was on a plane to Tenerife, where it’s quite hot, also claimed staff ‘did nothing’ when a male passenger shouted at her.
Emily claims he yelled:
Shut up you pathetic woman. Put a fucking jacket on.
What’s the betting the bloke was wearing a pair of those trousers you can unzip to make shorts?
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said the airline was “sorry” to have upset Miss O’Connor, adding:
It’s clear we could have handled the situation better. In common with most airlines, we have an appropriate clothing policy.
This applies equally to men and women of all ages without discrimination. Our crews have the difficult task of implementing that policy and don’t always get it right.
The airline said its policy states customers wearing ‘inappropriate attire’ which includes ‘items with offensive slogans or images’ would ‘not be permitted to travel unless a change of clothes is possible’.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.