The passenger was told to put on a jacket to board the airplane. (Representative pic)
A woman has claimed that she was almost kicked off a Delta flight for not wearing a bra. Lisa Archbold was travelling from Salt Lake City to San Francisco in January when Delta Airlines staff threatened to remove her from the flight because of her outfit. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, she detailed her upsetting interaction with an airline crew member before her flight took off from the destination on January 22. She said that she was leaving Utah’s Sundance Film Festival and heading back home to the Bay Area when the incident took place.
Speaking to the outlet, Ms Archbold, who is a self-employed DJ, claimed that after “every single person” had taken their seat on the flight, she was “loudly” summoned to the front of the plane. Once there, a female crew member ushered her off the plane to reprimand her for her outfit. She was told that her attire, which consisted of a “baggy” T-shirt and long pants, was “offensive” and “revealing”.
“After this long speech, she tells me she would allow me to stay on the flight if I put on my jacket,” Ms Archbold said. “Keep in mind this flight was an hour and a half long so I was not going to be out of my seat again. So whatever offence she was pretending was happening from my nipples, she had just created that offence again, so it wasn’t logical – it was humiliation,” she continued.
Ms Archbold told the outlet that it all started when she took off her coat at the Salt Lake airport before boarding the flight. “I looked like a girl who didn’t care about being dressed like one,” Ms Archbold, who identifies as a queer, said. She believes that her being queer may have been why she was unjustly treated.
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Ms Archbold said that when it was time to exit the aircraft upon arrival, she made it a point to let one of the male crew members know how she felt about the situation. She said she felt it was “discrimination”. “He replied verbatim, ‘Our official policy on Delta Airlines is that women must cover-up.’ It’s pretty gross,” she added.
The airline has since apologised to Ms Archbold, however, she said they “stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing”. “I don’t need miles or an apology, I need Delta to be interested in the safety of their passengers,” Ms Archbold said. “The dress code is extremely subjective. Subjective policies are easy vessels of abuse. They are easy to shift. Let’s make everyone more safe,” she added.