Picture this: You arrive for your Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) flight early. You manage to avoid packing excessive amounts of liquids in your carry-on baggage. You remember your ID, you wait until your seat is called, you stow your bags properly. You're even prepared to turn off your electronic devices and stow your tray table and put your seat in its upright and locked position when ... you're asked to leave the plane because you're showing a little too much leg.Haha! What is this, 1951? Nope. It's 2007, and a few months ago waitress Kyla Ebbert (who works at Hooters, where scantily-clad is a good thing) was escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Tucson because her outfit -- a miniskirt, tank top, and cropped sweater -- was too revealing (I don't see any cleavage and she was wearing a bra). She put up a fuss and was eventually let back on the plane after a lecture on her dress, or lack thereof.
Update: After apologizing to Ebbert, Southwest Airlines held a fare sale in honor of miniskirts -- it was fabulously popular with customers, but Kyla wasn't so pleased. To spite them -- or perhaps to take advantage of her 15 minutes of fame before it went away, leaving her still-penniless -- Kyla agreed to pose nude for Playboy.
Southwest Airlines has a history of questionable fashion judgment -- see here:
I'm all for appropriate clothing, but personally saw nothing in Ebbert's outfit that was cringe-worthy. And if it was?
Since when did proper attire become yet another qualification as an airline customer? It seems that airlines are their own worst enemies these days, kicking passengers off for uproarious sins such as breastfeeding, being the parents of overtired toddlers, or (gasp) wearing a skirt. What happened to "the customer is always right"?
In the airline business, sometimes, the customer is only right if it's convenient for the flight attendant. And that's only going to spell "losses" or, at the very least, "negative brand equity." Maybe Southwest (and many of its competitors) should invest in free yoga classes for its employees. Take a deep breath...
Update: Southwest Airlines apologized to Kyla Ebbert and then, in a PR-saving tongue-in-cheek stunt, offered "skimpy" airfare, a ten-day sale in honor of miniskirts. The sale ends September 28.
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 32)
9-06-2007 @ 12:25PM
mrb1807 said...
Relax....if a business doesn't want to serve or service a customer it's their business......if you don't like it..use someone else....customer rights are hurting this country with there stupid lawsuits......costing us millions in raised cost.....
9-06-2007 @ 12:27PM
Ashley said...
You know what, I think they are onto something with this one. The other day I saw a lady at the supermarket and I did not like that she looked better in shorts than me, so I think she should have been kicked out. WHAT THE...? What country is this and what year is it? I think this poor young lady should be publicly apologized to. That was crazy, I saw nothing wrong with what she was wearing! Since when with the issues of fluids under a certain amount of ounces, no tweezers, and people tackling people on planes did we have to come up with worrying about one person's personal opinion of what someone is wearing? Waaaaay too far. That was no one's business what she was wearing. She looked fine to me and not at all tacky. I see way worse all the time. I don't think her working at Hooters has nothing to do with it either.
9-06-2007 @ 12:27PM
Barb said...
The word "Lady" is used loosely (pardon the pun)today. I'm tired of "naked", too.
9-06-2007 @ 12:31PM
Marn said...
I would only hope that flight attendants are paying more attention to safety than to clothing. Who cares? Are they going to kick somone off for wearing pants around their hips - oops- a belly botton - call the cops! If anyone has seen their show "Airline" They have bigger issues
9-09-2007 @ 10:28AM
Mandee said...
Oh geez! You know the only reason they did this to this girl is because she's white. :) LOLOL
9-06-2007 @ 12:33PM
john said...
I had a 2 year old daughter that we took to Maui a few years back. She liked buttons and pushed the call button for the stewardess twice in the space of an hour, the Scandinavian stewardess said to me "Somebody needs to be the parent." I am sure that she has never had a 2 year old, Elizabeth was extremely well behaved (Minus the 2 call button episodes), I just couldn't believe how rude and from someone who I am paying! Oh and it was Delta Airlines.
I will not put up with a flight attendant treating me like that again, I will be arrested next time a flight attendant says something like that to me again.
9-06-2007 @ 12:35PM
a dickerson said...
what a joke. keith must have wanted to get his jollies by having here pull up her shirt, and pull her skirt down some. he must ne scare of women or can't get one to talk to him. grow up keith and get a life. what a missus of authority and he should be fired. all he wanted to do was look at her in a perverted way. she should sue southwest and keith. keith you are a loser!!!
9-06-2007 @ 1:18PM
smarteepantz said...
Hah! I remember being in Vegas a few years ago. I was watching a craps game (having never played it myself) and the extremely attractive woman in her early 20s standing next to me (who didn't know how to play either) struck up a conversation (I think I may have been the only female close to her age in the casino...it was late on a Sunday). Some old dude with an oxygen tank and a nurse handed us each a $10 chip to get in the game, which we did; within a half hour, one of the pit bosses came over and told the young woman that other tables were issuing complaints about her dress (she was wearing a low-cut sundress, but it wasn't like she was flopping out or anything). Suffice to say, we had a full table, mostly male, and they raised such a stink since we were in *Vegas* and she was dressed just fine, thankyouverymuch; the pit boss relented and she could stay and learn to play craps with us. She was mildly embarrassed, but it was just so funny because, looking around the casino, you could totally tell who the complainers were: middle-aged female dealers and a couple of matronly types who's hubbies were playing on our table!
9-06-2007 @ 12:37PM
Matt said...
LOL!! Throw a cute woman off the plane because she has a great body? She is thin and beautiful. How come I never get to sit next to that?? These jerks are as sexually repressed as muslims! They should throw off those sweaty morbidly obese people that can't fit in the seat. I'm tired of trying to squeeze my skinny ass in next to them. It would be a pleasure to sit next this this woman on my next flight...so now I know not to book it on Southwest Airlines!
9-06-2007 @ 12:38PM
OLE BOB said...
DRESS ATTIRE POLICE FOR S.W. AIRLINES. HAS ANYONE BEEN ON A FLIGHT SITTING NEXT TO A PASSENGER THAT SMELL LIKE ROTTEN GARBAGE? MAYBE SOUTHWEST'S WILL HIRE SNIFF POLICE TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE ON THE FLIGHT IS WEARING AN ODOR PROTECTOR? FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH DRESS ATTIRE IF NOT TO REVEALING.
OLE BOB
9-06-2007 @ 12:40PM
Marie Clmenti said...
It's apparent to me that Americans have very little regard for dressing appropriatly anymore! Lets make everything out of T-shirt material even sheets; come on. There is even a demand for designers of Athletic wear and active wear.
What do you expect from a society that has little value for the most basic tenets. We even need to be reminded to have dinner with our kids at night; if we didn't we would not have the commericals reminding to do so.
At least in the 30's 40's 50's 60's and maybe the 70's and 80's we cared about how we dressed then we have folks like Madonna and Cobain to really tell us its okay to wear our boxers like shorts; so I somehow I can see why America will be outraged that the dizzy Blonde waitress can't dress like a ho if she so chooses!
I wonder what Emerson and Thoreau would say about this way of being....
9-06-2007 @ 12:38PM
OLE BOB said...
DRESS ATTIRE POLICE FOR S.W. AIRLINES. HAS ANYONE BEEN ON A FLIGHT SITTING NEXT TO A PASSENGER THAT SMELL LIKE ROTTEN GARBAGE? MAYBE SOUTHWEST'S WILL HIRE SNIFF POLICE TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE ON THE FLIGHT IS WEARING AN ODOR PROTECTOR? FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH DRESS ATTIRE IF NOT TO REVEALING.
OLE BOB
9-06-2007 @ 12:44PM
KARIN said...
Is there any dresscode even POSTED anywhere from these airlines? This isn't a case where nothing happened until she boarded the plane. She was wearing this outfit when she entered the AIRPORT! If they are going to enforce something like that, then they need to WARN passengers before hand of their dresscode, the same as warning people what not to bring onto the plane. All you people who are applauding the airline employee who expected her to actually rebook and go on a later flight, just because she was wearing a miniskirt, must be a bunch of QUAKERS.
9-06-2007 @ 12:53PM
Kim said...
This is ludicrous! I fly SW Airlines to & from San Diego all the time and see ladies dressed like this. She is not dressed obscene or offensive. This is the second time in a month I have heard of SW Air kicking a passenger off a flight because another passenger complained. My friend Nick, a young Autistic man traveling by himself was asked to get off his flight in Portland, OR for talking too much about the jet and motors to another passenger. Why don't passengers just keep their comments to themselves and let people travel with no interruption? Everybody is different; appearance or otherwise. And SW Airlines, you have some apologizing to do to both Kyla and Nick! Don't you want some good publicity instead of all negative?
9-06-2007 @ 12:44PM
Ofelia said...
As you can see...she looks decent huh?...NOW SHE DOES....what about when the top was showing most of her boob....what about when the so called mini skirt was showing her...ah ..."cheeks"?...I'm for SWA doing what is decent and moral for the rest of the people who did not and do not want these types of indecent styles on a flight ...did anyone ask why she ah...covered her legs???? hummmm? and she was decently dressed....sure she was....sure..........
9-06-2007 @ 12:45PM
Stephen White said...
This all seems a little bit ridiculous to me. From the photograph I could see nothing offensive, but you never can tell. Perhaps she was without panties and was trying to do a Brittany Spears. The poster who wanted the CSR fired is a fool. Once the passenger boards the airplane, the cabin is the Flight Attendants responsibility and ultimately the Captain’s. I am a retired airline captain, so I know. The ones who want her to sue are also ridiculous. We are a very litigious society with way too many lawsuits as it is. Southwest would merely pass the cost of the suit onto the passengers, us. If Southwest was wrong, a letter of apology from the CEO and a couple of free tickets would suffice.
9-06-2007 @ 12:46PM
ed said...
Forst off this whole issue is ridiculous. You have a young attractive lady that is dressed in the style of the now. You have a bunch of jelous over weight flight attendeants and passengers that have noth better to do but complain. Does anybody forget about 911... we are all AMERICANS stop your bitching.. and as for Keith that talked to her he only let her back on cause he got aroused...
9-06-2007 @ 12:46PM
Tribe Fan said...
Anyone who sides with the airline must be jealous ,demented or just a plain idiot. I see women dressed like that in airports and on planes all the time. An emloyee made a bad decision based on his/her mood at the time, and should be fired for his/her actions. I see a big lawsuit pending. Worry about terrorists etc and stop waisting your time with petty "personal opinion judgments". For that last ten years I have flown to the same vacation via this airline. I have to book my flight and I will no longer fly with Southwest!!!
9-06-2007 @ 12:47PM
Starving to death said...
I had to endure a 6 hour flight crammed next to a man that smelled like a goat and nobody tried to eject him!! Who made the polyester clad flight attendant the fashoin police? I would much rather see this girl on a plane than someone wearing sweatpants and a stained, ripped tee shirt.
9-06-2007 @ 12:47PM
sean said...
Figures. Staff of Southwest, US Airways and airline companies in general are just getting worse and worse it seems. A customer friendly airline would do wonders.