Two Women Say They Were Kicked Off A Spirit Flight For Wearing Crop Tops— & So Were People Who Stood Up For Them
Several other passengers agreed that the flight attendant was way out of line.
YES Market Media | Shutterstock After another incident of passengers getting thrown off a plane, two women have gone viral. But this time, it's not because they were drunk or even disorderly or rude to the flight crew, as is usually true in these situations.
In fact, several other passengers on the plane, including one who was also thrown off for sticking up for the women, were left mystified by what happened—so much so that they confronted staff upon landing. Now, the women say they are considering filing a lawsuit against the notorious airline.
The two women were kicked off their Spirit Airlines flight for wearing crop tops under their sweaters.
Tara Kahidi and Teresa Araujo certainly aren't the first to be thrown off a plane for their attire, and they surely won't be the last. But the difference in their case is that nobody seems to think they were inappropriately dressed except the male flight attendant, who they say "singled them out" and treated them "like criminals."
In a TikTok video, Kehidi showed what she and Araujo were wearing when they boarded the plane: jeans and crop tops that showed a bit of their midriffs under long cardigan sweaters. It's the kind of outfit women wear all the time to run errands and would only be considered revealing if you've teleported in from the Victorian era (or become indoctrinated by recent right-wing propaganda).
"Apparently our crop tops were offensive," Kehidi said in the video.
When they boarded the plane, the women removed their cardigans because they said the air conditioning was not running and the plane was uncomfortably hot, which other passengers corroborated. That simple gesture seems to have sparked this bizarre uproar.
The flight attendant also kicked another passenger and her toddler off the plane for defending Kehidi and Araujo.
As things escalated, another passenger the women did not know, Carla Hager, stood up for them. She told LA's ABC 7 that Kehidi and Araujo's version of events is accurate—that the plane was uncomfortably hot and that many people onboard shed layers of clothing because of it. She decided to speak up because she said she was wearing an outfit similar to Kehidi and Araujo's.
"I said, 'Well, if your body is inappropriate, then so is mine because I also have a crop top under my sweater.'" she told ABC 7. "And I took my sweater off, and I was like, 'So if they're kicking you off the flight, then they're also going to have to kick me and my toddler off of the flight'."
Suffice it to say that the Spirit Airlines flight attendant, Jay, called her bluff. In another of Kehidi's videos, Hager is seen gathering her things and her toddler daughter to exit the plane after the flight attendant also decided to remove them.
Spirit Airlines defended the flight attendant's actions and said it is 'investigating the matter.'
In a statement to ABC 7, Spirit Airlines essentially said that Kahidi, Araujo, and Hager should have known better. "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," the statement reads.
That Contract of Carriage states that passengers may be required to leave a flight without a refund if they are "inadequately clothed" or wearing clothing that "is lewd, obscene or offensive in nature." But none of the three women's outfits seem to rise to those standards.
Kahidi even shared text messages from other passengers who'd tracked her down, including one from someone claiming to be a CNN reporter, who was "appalled" by what they witnessed.
Tellingly, in other videos of Kahidi's interactions with the staff, their and Hager's removal from the plane was attributed to their "behavior" rather than their dress. Kahidi says this change in the story doesn't make sense either — she and her friend only asked to see Spirit Airlines' dress code.
Other passengers' videos of the situation show a calm and measured back-and-forth rather than the belligerence we've become accustomed to seeing in these situations. Nevertheless, they reported that the flight attendant who started it all was still so heated about it that he made a snide comment once the plane landed in New Orleans, telling passengers over the intercom, "See if you guys just mind your own business, you'll get to your destination faster."
Kehidi said that she was also told by the person identifying themselves as a CNN reporter that she and 15 other passengers were so angered by the situation they stayed behind at the gate in New Orleans after landing to complain about the flight attendant's actions.
Kehidi and Araujo say the altercation ruined their trip to New Orleans for Kehidi's 30th birthday, especially since they had to spend an additional $1000 to book other flights after they were thrown off. They told ABC 7 they were considering taking legal action against the airline, which many online applauded given Spirit's notorious reputation.
Spirit, for its part, says it is "investigating the matter" and has been in contact with all three women involved. This is just another day in the unmitigated debacle American air travel has become in recent years.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.