‘Crop Top Fiasco’: Spirit Airlines' Male Crew Forces Two Female Flyers To Deboard Over Choice Of Attire

Four passengers, including a toddler, were reportedly asked to leave a Spirit Airlines plane due to the clothing choices of two female passengers who boarded the plane donning crop tops.

On October 6, Spirit Airlines passenger Teresa shared a series of videos detailing her experience leading up to her forced deboarding from the aircraft. She claimed in an Instagram post, which has now gone viral, that a ‘sexist’ male attendant forced her and her friend to go back to the gate because of what they wore.

“Hi friends! This is usually not the type of post I share on here but wanted to share my story because I’m still in shock,” she wrote. “My friend and I had a terrible experience on Friday on flight 387 from Lax to New Orleans with @spiritairlines. We were harassed by a male flight attendant who told us to ‘cover-up’ because we were wearing crop tops.”

In the first video, Teresa is seated next to her friend on the plane, wearing a white spaghetti-strap tank top with a green and white striped sweater draped over her chest. Both travellers had their sweaters on when they boarded but removed them after finding the cabin too warm.

Teresa said that everyone, including the flight staff, agreed that she and her friend’s crop tops didn’t violate the dress code, despite the male flight attendant raising an issue about them.

“He then continued to treat us poorly and give us no reasoning as to why he wanted to kick us off,” she said, referring to the male flight attendant.

“Other passengers joined in and tried defending us but ultimately a supervisor liked to us and told either we would leave the flight or she would bring the police,” Teresa said.

Before they deboarded, the supervisor reportedly assured them their flights would be rebooked. However, Teresa claimed that after they exited the plane, the supervisor said no flights were available and refused to issue a refund.

In the videos recorded on the plane, Spirit Airlines staff members can be heard requesting the passengers to stop filming the interaction.

Teresa stated that a mother and her toddler also walked off the plane with them. According to her account, the mother and child were “kicked out” alongside her and her friend, though the reason was not clarified.

“You’re going to remove us from the plane? Even my baby?” the mother could be heard asking the airline staff in Teresa’s second video.

“This is an appalling service, that in 2024 we are getting kicked out of a plane for ONE MALE flight attendant not liking our shirts,” Teresa’s Instagram caption said. “Everyone working at the airport agreed this was an act of prejudice, discrimination and misogynism and that we should take legal actions,” it further added.

““We spoke with the police who said the same. We were refused their full names, a refund, rebooked flights or anything all because of a sexist and rude flight attendant,” she wrote.

Teresa also claimed that she had to spend $1,000 to rebook with a different airline.

In subsequent videos shared on her Instagram, she compiled different passenger perspectives from the plane. One woman stated that the male flight attendant threatened to stop the flight if Teresa didn’t put her shirt back on.

“There’s also another woman next to her with a toddler, looks like she, the toddler, is under three years old, and she will be taken off the plane as well,” the woman said, turning the camera to show the mother, who was wearing a grey tank top.

Teresa ended her Instagram post with several screenshots featuring messages from passengers who claimed to be on the plane with her, where the messages suggested that the passengers felt the male flight attendant acted inappropriately by having them removed from the flight.

“Our Contract of Carriage, a document all Guests agree to upon making a reservation with us, includes certain clothing standards for all Guests traveling with us. We are investigating the matter, and we are in contact with the Guests about their experience,” the airlines said in a statement, when contacted by the UK daily The Independent.

According to the Contract of Carriage available on Spirit Airlines’ website, any passenger may be removed from the aircraft if they are “inadequately clothed or whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature”, the airline said.