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Spirit Airlines Will Prohibit ‘Offensive’ Tattoos and Revealing Clothing

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Spirit Airlines Will Prohibit ‘Offensive’ Tattoos and Revealing Clothing

If you’re flying Spirit Airlines, wearing a crop top that reveals your torso or having certain tattoos could now be enough to get you kicked off a flight.

The airline recently updated its policies to explicitly outline unacceptable passenger attire and appearance, going beyond the vague policies held by most other airlines . In its contract of carriage, which is a legal document outlining airline and passenger responsibilities, Spirit says “a guest shall not be permitted to board the aircraft or may be required to leave an aircraft” if the passenger is “inadequately clothed” or “whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene or offensive in nature.”

Inadequately clothed is now defined — having breasts, buttocks or other private parts exposed, or wearing sheer apparel. But what exactly is an offensive tattoo is unclear.

Clarifying all of this tends to fall to airline employees, including the flight crew. In recent years, Spirit and other airlines have stopped passengers from boarding their flights for all kinds of attire or lack thereof: leggings, clothes printed with expletive-laded slogans, short shorts and not wearing a bra.

Overall, most airlines leave a lot open to interpretation, said Bobby Laurie, a former flight attendant and a co-host of the travel show “The Jet Set.”

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“It’s very subjective,” Mr. Laurie said. “What someone might find offensive or lewd, someone else may not.” Generally, a decision to remove a traveler from a flight would require consensus from multiple airline employees, he added.

Here’s what some major domestic airlines say about passenger dress code in their contracts of carriage.

The airline says it will also bar barefoot passengers from boarding.

Passengers can’t wear clothes that are “lewd, obscene, or patently offensive,” the airline states, with no further detail.

The airline says that it will not transport barefoot passengers, or passengers who aren’t “properly clothed” or whose clothing is “lewd, obscene or offensive.”

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Attire that leads to an “unreasonable risk of offensive or annoyance to other passengers” is enough to get a passenger removed, according to Delta’s contract of carriage.

American asks passengers to “dress appropriately.” This means no bare feet or “offensive” clothing.

Travelers over 5 years old can’t be barefoot, the airline says. Again, no “lewd, obscene, or patently offensive” attire.

Alaska Airlines also prohibits passengers from being barefoot and will remove travelers whose attire creates “an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025.

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‘Wait Wait’ for February 28. 2026: Live in Bloomington with Lilly King!

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‘Wait Wait’ for February 28. 2026: Live in Bloomington with Lilly King!

An underwater view shows US’ Lilly King competing in a heat of the women’s 200m breaststroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP via Getty Images)

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This week’s show was recorded in Bloomington, Indiana with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Lilly King and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Josh Gondelman, and Faith Salie. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

Who’s Bill This Time

State of the Union is Hot; The Tribal Council Convenes Again; A Glow Up In the Doll Aisle

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Panel Questions

The Toot Tracker

Bluff The Listener

Our panelists tell three stories about a travel hack in the news, only one of which is true.

Not My Job: Olympic Swimmer Lilly King answers our questions about Lil’ Kings

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Olympic Swimmer Lilly King plays our game called, “Lilly King meet these Lil’ Kings” Three questions about short kings.

Panel Questions

Cleaning Out The Cabinet; Bedtime Stacking

Limericks

Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: Getting Cozy With Cross Country Skiing; Pickleball’s New Competition; Bees Get Freaky

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Lightning Fill In The Blank

All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions

Our panelists predict, after American Girls, what’ll be the next toy to get an update.

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Zendaya and Tom Holland Are Married, Her Longtime Stylist Claims

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Zendaya and Tom Holland Are Married, Her Longtime Stylist Claims

Law Roach
Zendaya and Tom’s Wedding Already Happened …
Y’all Missed It!!!

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Bet on Anything, Everywhere, All at Once : Up First from NPR

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Bet on Anything, Everywhere, All at Once : Up First from NPR

Online prediction market platforms allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events.

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The rise of prediction markets means you can now bet on just about anything, right from your phone. Apps like Kalshi and Polymarket have grown exponentially in President Trump’s second term, as his administration has rolled back regulations designed to keep the industry in check. Billions of dollars have flooded in, and users are placing bets on everything from whether it will rain in Seattle today to whether the US will take over control of Greenland. Who’s winning big on these apps? And who is losing? NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn joins The Sunday Story to explain how these markets came to be and where they are going.

This episode was produced by Andrew Mambo. It was edited by Liana Simstrom and Brett Neely. Fact-checking by Barclay Walsh and Susie Cummings. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. 

We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at TheSundayStory@npr.org.

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Listen to Up First on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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