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Home » Delta Air Lines » Woman Removed From Delta Air Lines Flight For Not Wearing A Bra Now Demands Meeting With CEO Ed Bastian
Delta Air Lines

Woman Removed From Delta Air Lines Flight For Not Wearing A Bra Now Demands Meeting With CEO Ed Bastian

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 29, 2024March 29, 2024 39 Comments

a woman wearing red sunglasses and a headband sitting on a luggage

I’ve updated this story with information concerning Ms. Archbold’s legal representation and her demands to meet with Delta CEO Ed Bastian.

A woman who claimed she was (temporarily) removed from a Delta Air Lines flight for dressing like a man (wearing an undershirt without a bra) has demanded a meeting with CEO Ed Bastian. Delta has already apologized to the woman, but her attorney says that is not enough.

Bra-less Woman Removed From Delta Flight, Claims She Was Targeted For Dressing Like Man – Now Wants To Meet CEO Bastian

Lisa Archbold, from New Zealand, was flying on Delta from Salt Lake City (SLC) to San Francisco (SFO) on January 22, 2024. As she tells the story, she boarded her flight in Salt Lake City, receiving an “awkward” hello from the gate agent.

Once onboard and after passengers had boarded, a different Delta ground staff employee entered the plane, approached Archbold, and asked her to step off the aircraft. Archbold figured she was being approached about the contents of her checked bag, which were full of vodka bottles (she had been promoting Woody Harrelson’s new brand).

“I need to speak to you in private. Follow me!”

Once off the aircraft, the Delta employee explained:

“It is Delta’s policy to remove anyone in revealing clothes from the aircraft. I will allow you to stay on the plane, if you put your jacket on.”

Archbold was wearing an undershirt, much like I wear every day. It is see-through (Archbold claims hers was not, but it sure looks sheer to me). She was not wearing a bra. She complained, “I was dressed like a little boy in baggy pants and shirt, I had no idea what she was talking about.” Archbold also pointed out:

“Neither were the men on that flight and lots have bigger breasts than me.”

She believes the Delta employee “essentially weaponized Delta’s policy to humiliate and abuse a woman, she didn’t think was being a woman in the right way.” (Archbold identifies as queer).

Perennial attorney Gloria Aldred is now representing her and lambasted Delta:

“Male passengers are not required to cover up their T-shirts with a shirt or a jacket. They also do not have to wear a bra to board or remain on a plane and women should not have to wear one either. Last I checked, the Taliban are not in charge of Delta. Neither her breasts nor any other woman’s breasts have ever tried to take over a plane,” she said. Breasts are not weapons of war, and it’s not a crime for a woman or girl to have them.”

Let me spell it out to you Gloria: we don’t want to see your nipples or your client’s nipples on an airplane and you don’t want to see mine. Lament all you want about our “puritanical” or “patriarchal” society but cover up your chest…that’s not too much to ask in a country in which those with very different views of fashion and gender must live in harmony. It’s just a common and utilitarian courtesy in a confined space like a passenger aircraft cabin.

While Delta does not have a strict dress code, its contract of carriage states that it can remove passengers if “the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”

When it comes to dress code issues, it is usually American Airlines or Southwest Airlines that take center stage. I cannot recall an issue on Delta before now. While Delta does not have a strict dress code, its contract of carriage states that it can remove passengers if “the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”

I think this is a difficult issue…whether it be a female passenger or some dude with man boobs, I don’t think it is appropriate to wear a see-through shirt (or pants, for that matter, that are far too tight, leaving nothing to the imagination). Thus, I don’t see this as a gender issue as much as a tact issue. But breasts and nipples are not the same thing…the female anatomy tends to be different than the male anatomy…

Should an “offended” person look the other way? Maybe. But I’d think we’d all agree there is some line that should not be crossed and wearing a sheer undershirt on a cold day is maybe a bit too much…

@Delta I was extracted from a delta flight for not wearing a bra. The gate attendant waited until the entire plane was seated, then asked to speak to me privately and escorted me off the plane, like a criminal.I was told “the official policy of @Delta is that women must cover up” pic.twitter.com/NuxiCrYf90

— DJette kiwi (@DJettekiwi) January 23, 2024

Thus far, there are no plans for a lawsuit.

CONCLUSION

Some people dress to draw attention to themselves. Sometimes we do this subconsciously. I don’t think that asking people to cover up on a plane, when stuck in a metal tube with people of different values for hours at a time, represents the imposition of white heteronormative patriarchal values. Instead, I think it just represents common courtesy.

Should this woman have been removed from her Delta Air Lines flight for not wearing a bra?


image: @Djettekiwi / X

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Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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39 Comments

  1. Alert Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 10:53 am

    Her lawyer ought to be Jackie Chiles .

  2. Don Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 11:32 am

    When the hell will society move on from giving all these idiots the spotlight?

    You can change your gender the same way I identify as a pro-athlete.
    It’s idiotic.

    We have to stop giving these people the time of day.
    I’m happy if you want to change your name, have dumb pronouns, whatever.

    But stop pushing your fake reality on regular people who believe science is a real thing.

    • SoCalGran Reply
      February 3, 2024 at 2:32 pm

      Well said. You summed it up for lots of us.

    • Aaron Reply
      February 3, 2024 at 2:37 pm

      “I’m happy if you want to change your name, have dumb pronouns, whatever.

      But stop pushing your fake reality on regular people who believe science is a real thing.”

      That follow-up sentence seems to suggest you aren’t really that happy.

  3. Santastico Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 11:35 am

    For a minute I thought that was Sir Elton John.

    • Maryland Reply
      February 3, 2024 at 9:10 pm

      Ha! I thought it was Roseanne Barr. After all she is from SLC.

      • stuart Reply
        March 29, 2024 at 11:20 pm

        Well we know Roseanne didn’t get her humor from Utah lol!

  4. david Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    Why doesn’t she just identify as a man. Problem solved.

  5. Tim Done Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 12:16 pm

    I got bigger tits than her.

  6. Willy Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 12:34 pm

    It’s always the ugly ones…..

  7. Chip Bennett Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 12:56 pm

    Clickbait title is clickbait.

    The woman was not removed from the flight for dressing like a man, but rather for dresing in a manner that exposed her breasts.

    • Aaron Reply
      February 3, 2024 at 2:36 pm

      You’re new here, aren’t you?

  8. Chi Hsuan Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 1:34 pm

    These people get off on victimhood damn, it’s a bizarre fetish.

  9. haolenate Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 4:25 pm

    Lort… cover up! While I probably have bigger bewbs that her, I still cover them up.

    We have lost human decency in this generation… I’m still waiting for that Biden slogan “Vote for Decency” to show up, cause it seems to have gotten worse!

  10. Lightning1 Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 4:42 pm

    I worked for Delta 24 years. I’ve never heard of someone removed from a flight due to clothing . They had to threaten the flight, have an infections disease, interfere with the crew or cause a major disruption.

  11. Ashley Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 4:53 pm

    Of course it was SLC.

    I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask all passengers, regardless of sex, to wear attire that is opaque enough that nipples aren’t visible. Such a rule should only apply to clothing sheer enough where detail, color, etc. can be discerned – the mere presence of an outline should not be enough, unless we want to ban bulges too.

    While I agree that she probably should’ve worn something a little less sheer, it seems like the ground staff just had their magic skivvies in a bunch, and it really wasn’t necessary to ask her to cover up – it’s one of those minor transgressions, which, while annoying, isn’t really worth making a scene over. I’m quite confident that had she boarded at JFK, SEA, SFO, LAX, BOS, MIA, MCO, TPA, or ORD, nobody would’ve said a word. It’s telling that the FAs seemed to be completely uninvolved, just ground staff. I also agree that if she had been male, that shirt would not have been an issue.

    Flying out of SLC with my family last year, we checked 8 bags, 7 of which made it on the plane, and one of which was delayed about a day. Guess which one had the “personal massager?”

    Tl;dr: If I had my way, would anyone walk on a plane dressed like this? No. Do I think that it’s unreasonable to ask passengers not to dress like this? No. Do I think the gate agents unfairly targeted her in a manner akin to selective prosecution? Yes.

  12. upstarter Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 4:53 pm

    Most people from NZ dress like this.

  13. Ignatius R. Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 9:34 pm

    Main Character Syndrome

  14. Trippin' on Reality Reply
    February 3, 2024 at 10:49 pm

    No one will ever, ever convince me this is normal. It’s not.

    In fact, it’s mental illness. When grown ups act like grown ups and stop tolerating such nonsense, only then will the insanity end.

  15. Mike Reply
    February 4, 2024 at 7:38 am

    Ok, I’ll be the first to ask: what is it with Americans and (female) breasts & nipples? The obsession is astonishing. Most of the rest of the world don’t care half as much…

    Every time there’s a story like this, I can’t help but remember the scenes from The Simpsons all those years ago, in which Helen Lovejoy (the Reverend’s wife) prudishly shrieks “Won’t somebody please think about the children!” to appeal to a (misplaced) sense of morality when she has no other logical reasoning to win an argument.

    • Toussaint Reply
      February 5, 2024 at 8:16 am

      I just don’t understand why non-Americans don’t grasp the badic concepts in front of their faces. This has nothing to do with breasts.

  16. Jerry Reply
    February 4, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    I think this may have been a good time for Delta to just say, “Live and Let’s Fly.” Had nothing been said, everyone would have made it to their destination and any “outrage” that may have been endured surely would have been forgotten minutes after landing.

  17. Red Reply
    February 5, 2024 at 9:00 am

    This blog continues to accelerate downhill with nonsense reporting and clickbait titles.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      February 5, 2024 at 9:08 am

      We serve to serve again.

      • DavidM Reply
        March 30, 2024 at 3:12 pm

        Nice retort…

  18. Jack Reply
    February 5, 2024 at 11:38 am

    Some people are crazy attention seekers. Doesn’t make her dangerous. When you think about it, it is odd how scared many people are of breasts and nipples. Of all the dangerous and antisocial behaviors people engage in, not wearing a bra is hardly worth delaying a flight.

  19. Santastico Reply
    March 29, 2024 at 4:47 pm

    Sir Elton John wants to meet Ed. Not happening.

  20. Bob M Reply
    March 29, 2024 at 6:08 pm

    My wife mostly flies without wearing bras. But it’s not at all obvious with her modest breasts hidden under a tank top and T-shirt. I’m sure nobody has ever noticed, let alone get offended. She is simply being comfortable. What is the problem?

  21. FNT Delta Diamond Reply
    March 29, 2024 at 6:19 pm

    She should have brought a baby to breast feed. In that case, Delta wouldn’t mind if you whipped out the breast and showed the nipple.

  22. CHRIS Reply
    March 29, 2024 at 8:27 pm

    Only premium creatures like this one fly on America’s Premium Airline.

    • Cory Cesar Reply
      April 2, 2024 at 5:18 pm

      If I had only shown my duckfaced-selfie to the polyester goombas holding the velvet rope at the ATL Terminal B SkyClub, I could have spent thirty minutes inside the club. Don’t really need a meeting with Ed. Seems to be the pass that gets you noticed. Premium.

  23. Maryland Reply
    March 29, 2024 at 9:55 pm

    To me, today is the ultimate day of forgiveness (Catholic). So I hope I can be forgiven for removing the uncomfortable bra on long haul flights. As I am always cold, sweaters and camisoles have always been worn and I can assure everyone no one has been offended.

  24. GUWonder Reply
    March 30, 2024 at 6:41 am

    I am with Gloria Aldred on this matter.

    When passengers’ backside cracks pop up above their pant waistlines that’s far more uncouth and gross than a braless man or woman’s nipples that may be viewed as sort of showing a bit of their shape or color through a shirt. And yet US airlines seem more obsessed with women’s breasts than they are with rump cracks popping out of the pants of men and women when they are putting things up in the overhead bins or leaning forward or down.

    And whether we like it or not, public attire standards are no longer what they used to be; and tighter and more revealing clothing has increasingly become more publicly acceptable.

    If I don’t like the way something looks or reads, no one is stopping me from looking away and minding my own business.

  25. Tim Done Reply
    March 30, 2024 at 8:01 am

    As a compromise I’ll agree to meet with her. In my mind I’m on the same playing field as Ed.

  26. bhn Reply
    March 30, 2024 at 8:31 am

    OMG, get over it Self importance if ever there was any.

  27. yiannis93117 Reply
    March 30, 2024 at 10:59 am

    What a cow! Those pursed rubber filled lips too. Augh, why do we waste time with crap like this

  28. Eskimo Reply
    March 30, 2024 at 1:17 pm

    If getting to meet Ed was easy as show your boobs, then Tim Dunn would be in every clickbait blog for revealing his nippy.

  29. Ed Duck Reply
    April 1, 2024 at 8:38 am

    Tell me you had no father figure growing up without telling me you had no father figure.

  30. Etluhcs Reply
    April 1, 2024 at 7:30 pm

    Next will be some man wearing opaque undies or a thong.

    I agree with the person making the statement ‘we’ve lost our sense of ‘decency’… it’s really sad.

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