United Airlines To Customers: 'Your Leggings Are Welcome'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — United Airlines doubled down Monday on their policy against leggings – at least for its pass travelers - but says customers wearing leggings are still welcome.
The pants-alternative garment became the focus of worldwide debate after a Sunday night tweet-storm detailing a decision by a United Airlines employee to stop three girls at an airport gate for wearing leggings.
Anti-gun violence advocate Shannon Watts said she witnessed two teenage girls being turned away, and a 10-year-old girl having to hastily don a dress at the gate. United later responded to thousands of angry tweets that all three girls were attempting to fly as United pass riders.
The popularity of leggings among girls have made them a target for many school district dress code policies across the country, to the ire of many parents. Pasadena High School in 2015 was considering adding leggings and yoga pants to its list of banned wear, along with spaghetti straps and low-cut or tight tops.
United's statement Monday morning, however, emphasized that the leggings were not allowed for "pass riders," who they say are considered representatives of United.
"And like most companies, we have a dress code that we ask employees and pass riders to follow. The passengers this morning were United pass riders and not in compliance with our dress code for company benefit travel. We regularly remind our employees that when they place a family member or friend on a flight for free as a standby passenger, they need to follow our dress code," United's statement said.
Twitter users angry about the United policy dug up Delta Airlines' dress code for "Buddy Pass Riders."
"Delta has a relaxed dress code for pass riders, but that doesn't mean a sloppy appearance is acceptable. You should never wear unclean, revealing or lewd garments, or swimwear or sleepwear on a flight."
And as with what happened with school district bans on leggings, several celebrities – including model Chrissy Teigen, and actors Patricia Arquette and Seth Rogen – criticized United's policy as sexist.
United's statement ended with an emphatic, "To our regular customers, your leggings are welcome."
