Spirit Airlines Updates Dress Code for Passengers

Spirit Airlines has tightened up its dress code for passengers, with "offensive" tattoos now on the forbidden list. But what constitutes "offensive" in the case of body art is not spelled out, notes the New York Times. Some of the new changes:

• Not allowed: Flyers can get booted off a plane if they are "barefoot or inadequately clothed (ie, see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts) or whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature," according to the rules, per NBC News.

The airline did not specify why it updated the rules, though the move comes a few months after two women say they were kicked off a flight because they were wearing crop tops. Would crop tops now qualify as "inadequately covered?" It's tough to say. Still, the Times notes that Spirit's language, while vague in parts, goes into more detail than the rules at other major airlines. Southwest, for instance, bars clothing that is "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive," without more detail. The Washington Post quotes travel industry analyst Henry H. Harteveldt with this test for air passengers questioning their outfits: "Would you wear that if you were going to confession or visiting a friend in the hospital?" (More Spirit Airlines stories.)