A 21 year old passenger flying with Thomas Cook from Birmingham to Tenerife claims to have been humiliated by cabin crew over her outfit.
Emily O’Connor says that she was left “shaking and upset” when flight attendants told her that her crop top and trousers were ‘inappropriate’ and “caused offence.”
According to Ms O’Connor, she had already been through all stages of the check in and security process when, on entering the plane, airline staff told her that she would have to cover up. On proceeding to her seat, she claims that she was surrounded by four crew members, insisting that she would be removed from the flight unless she put a jacket on.
One of Ms O’Connor’s relatives, who was seated elsewhere on the flight, gave her a jacket to wear, and Ms O’Connor claims that the staff did not leave until she had put it on.
She also says that staff “did nothing” when a male passenger shouted and swore at her.
Flying from Bham to Tenerife, Thomas Cook told me that they were going to remove me from the flight if I didn’t “cover up” as I was “causing offence” and was “inappropriate”. They had 4 flight staff around me to get my luggage to take me off the plane. pic.twitter.com/r28nvSYaoY
— Emily O’Connor (@emroseoconnor) March 12, 2019
“They made comments over the speaker about the situation,” she tweeted. “A gent two rows behind me was wearing a vest top and shorts … yet nothing was said to him”.
A Thomas Cook spokesman 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 that its policy states customers wearing “inappropriate attire (including items with offensive slogans or images) will not be permitted to travel unless a change of clothes is possible”.
