Woman ordered to cover cleavage to board Southwest Airline flight - Life - Stylist Magazine

Woman told "cover cleavage" before boarding flight

Airline deem cleavage "inappropriate"

A woman was told by Southwest Airlines that her cleavage was deemed too “inappropriate” for her to board her flight.

Scheduled to board the 6am flight from Las Vegas to New York on June 5, Avital - who was wearing a cotton jersey dress, an open checked shirt and Birkenstock sandals - was told by Southwest staff that she wouldn’t be able to fly unless she buttoned up her shirt.

ABOVE: Avital in the casual outfit deemed 'inappropriate' by Southwest Airline staff

Despite Southwest’s warning, Avital decided not to do as asked and instead defiantly proceeded to board: “I didn't want to let the representative's Big Feelings about my breasts change the way I intended to board my flight," she explained to Jezebel.com. "And lo and behold, the plane didn't fall out of the sky...my cleavage did not interfere with the plane's ability to function properly."

Invited to comment about the incident, Southwest Airlines spokesperson Christi McNeill said that the company’s Contract of Carriage allowed them to ‘refuse to transport a customer whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive’.

While Avital readily describes herself as a large-breasted woman, and therefore given the propensity to more cleavage exposure than a small-breasted one, (Jezebel.com also points out that the median bra size in the US is a 36DD), her casual outfit could hardly be described as lewd or patently offensive – unlike that of a fellow, male, passenger:

"To add insult to injury, the guy sitting in front of me on the plane was wearing a shirt with an actual Trojan condom embedded behind a clear plastic appliqué and had no trouble getting on his flight," revealed Avital. “[It’s] Slut shaming, pure and simple,” she added.

ABOVE: Kyla Ebbert was kicked off a Southwest flight in 2007 for her 'lewd' summer ensemble

Avital’s experience is similar to that of Kyla Ebbert, who was escorted off a Southwest flight from San Diego in August 2007 after a customer service rep from Southwest said her summery outfit was also ‘inappropriate’.

What do you think? Were Southwest Airlines right or wrong to ask Avital to cover up? Tell us your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments section below

Image credit: Jezebel.com and Rex