Sexist Airline Policy: a Woman Was Denied Boarding Because Her Outfit Was 'Too Provocative'

Andrea Worldwide still can't believe what happened. The American travel blogger was about to board a United Airlines charter flight when – surprise! – the airline's staff told her she couldn't get on the plane... because of how she was dressed. According to them, her outfit was 'too provocative.'

'Denied boarding because of my offensive boobs'

In a long post she shared on her Facebook account, the young woman recounted the unfortunate anecdote. She wrote:

Last week I was denied boarding onto my flight out of Denver by a male United gate agent.

Andrea sat and waited for about 20 minutes until a supervisor came and told her ​​what was going on.

At first I thought it was because I had a ripped ticket, but I later learned that it was because of what I was wearing.

She did apologize but also commented to me that my shirt was in fact 'too revealing', which means United’s male gate agent felt it was necessary to protect the other passengers from me, or he wanted me to stick around just a little longer so he could stare at me for his own pleasure…Who knows!

$200 in exchange for a horrifying experience

Andrea was eventually allowed on the plane after negotiating with the airline staff. The airline also offered her a $200 travel voucher, which she immediately refused, to apologise for the inconvenience. She said in an interview with CBS:

Two hundred dollars doesn’t even compare to the humiliation that I faced. If another female has to face this, I’d rather get the word out and maybe they’ll choose a different airline.

The airline says they contacted the young blogger 'to better understand what happened.' A United Airlines spokesperson told CBS:

At United, our goal is for our customers to feel welcome and have a comfortable journey.