Monday, March 27, 2017

Shorter UAL: "Dress Codes That Only Impact Women Are Not Sexist!"

You've likely heard of the dustup with United over their dress code for people riding on company passes. In the abstract, I sort of agree, for if you take the King's gold, you abide by the King's rules.

But this seemed a bit much:
When taking advantage of this benefit, all employees and pass riders are considered representatives of United. And like most companies, we have a dress code that we ask employees and pass riders to follow. The passengers this morning were United pass riders and not in compliance with our dress code for company benefit travel. We regularly remind our employees that when they place a family member or friend on a flight for free as a standby passenger, they need to follow our dress code.
I've flown on UAL within the last six months, including changing flights at two of their hubs. I do not remember seeing a single person wearing a sign or tag that said "United Pass Rider". I don't know how I'd tell who was a pass rider and who wasn't.

But I guess that UAL thinks that maybe we have "pass-riderdar" or something that enables paying passengers to tell whose riding for free and who isn't.

7 comments:

  1. My mom worked for British Airways for 30 years, and as part of the employee pass program, we did have to abide by a dress code. I personally hated it as a kid, having to fly for 10 hours dressed in uncomfortable button-down shirts, pants, and dress shoes. But whatever... we got to see the world for free.

    If the terms of service rules say "X", you do "X". The gate agent's just doing their job upholding them, until the rules get changed. I know that's a bit of a Nuremberg defense, but we're just talking about getting a free flight for the cost of putting on a clean pair of pants.

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  2. I did note numerous reports that the man with these two boarded in shorts...hummmm.

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  3. CP88, after sitting on the DFW tarmac for 2 hours with no AC, I wear shorts during warm weather flights.

    They aren't form fitting booty shorts, either.

    I approve of all yoga pants I have seen, but few likely want to see (or be seated beside) males wearing the same lip-readable tights. Technically sexist, I know.

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  4. The key bit of information here is that they were riding on the United flight using United's non-revenue/buddy pass system. A system such as this allows one to travel at a greatly discounted fare. As such, they should have been adhering to United's rules of dress and conduct.

    I am very familiar with Delta's system and it has a dress code as well. Basically it is business casual attire with a neat and clean look. No holes in clothing, no printed tee-shirts, no athletic jerseys/foot wear, no revealing clothing, etc. Additionally, Delta's also asks not to bring attention that you are travelling as a non-rev passenger.

    As a former controller who took familiarization trips, the aforementioned dress code was given to us by the airline and FAA management. We were representing the agency while interacting with the airline employees and public. LRod and perhaps CP88 can verify this.

    IMO, there was a failure of communication to these girls by the employee who helped them attain their passes. He/she should have explained the rules for non-rev flight. The agent that denied the boarding to the girls was doing her job correctly. I see no problem with what was done. As United stated, if you want to wear whatever you want, just purchase a seat at the regular price.

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  5. People react to things before they understand them sometimes:

    http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Chrissy-Teigen-Vows-To-Go-Topless-on-United-11029114.php

    -Doug in Oakland

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  6. Ok, clarified details:

    1) The man in shorts was with the 10 year-old whose family overheard the fuss, and then (the family) made her put a dress over her leggings. These people were not associated with the pass riders, but their behavior was influenced by the Gate Agent's fuss.

    2) The teens were indeed pass riders, so United is entitled...but, come on, do it quietly and AWAY from the other pax.

    3) United's dress code does seem awfully focused on females vs males.

    4) United's public shaming and twitter response brought this upon themselves. One intelligent person on the twitter account and this whole thing disappears...

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  7. American agriculture squeezes pigs into cages where they can't move or turn around. Ditto chickens. That seemed like such a terrific idea that now most airlines, including United, have applied it to people.

    If people who fly tourist class are treated like pigs, there's no reason they shouldn't dress like pigs. And that applies to free-riding pigs as well as paying pigs.

    Yours very crankily,
    The New York Crank

    ReplyDelete

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