When one passenger attempted to board a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight departing from Jakarta last week, he was told at the last minute that he would not be allowed to board because he was wearing shorts.
Jordan Bishop, who is a contributor to Forbes and the founder of corporate flights concierge Yore Oyster, had been on a short trip to Indonesia where the temperatures remained above 90 degrees and he didn't see a need to bring pants on the trip. He'd booked a flight to Istanbul with the Saudi national carrier via Riyadh, and was never notified that shorts were not permitted.
Even through the entire check-in process, according to Bishop's account which he published on Forbes, he was never told that the way he dressed would not meet the airline's standards. But when he arrived at the gate to board, he was asked to step aside.
"Sir, I'm afraid we can't allow you to board," a manager told him. "You cannot fly with Saudia wearing shorts."
After a quick Google search, Bishop found the airline's one-sentence-long dress code for passengers. It read: "Saudia is requesting from their guests to abide by a dress code whereby they are clothed in a manner that is inline with public taste or not offensive to other passengers." Shorts, apparently, were classified as "offensive."
Bishop asked the manager if they had extra pants he could borrow, but was told they did not, with staff reiterating that he would not be allowed to board in his current attire. By this time, all other passengers were boarded and the gate was set to close.
Realizing he had no other option, he quickly ran through the terminal looking for something to wear. He found a travel kiosk selling sarongs, bought the first one he found and dashed back to the gate, wrapping it around his waist to cover his bare legs.
"The gate crew gave me a once-over, exchanged a few glances amongst themselves, and hesitantly allowed me to board, closing the gate behind me," Bishop explained.
While Bishop pointed out that he personally sees no problem with the airline enforcing a dress code, he believes it should be clearly communicated to passengers.
"If they want to impose a dress code upon their passengers, they have every right to do so," he wrote. "The problem lies in not communicating those rules."
This isn't the first time the Saudi airline has drawn headlines for its dress code. Although the current policy appears to have been simplified and made vague online, in August 2017, the airline garnered criticism after it announced that "women exposing legs or arms, or wearing too thin or too tight clothes, and men wearing shorts exposing legs" would not be allowed to board, The Independent reported.
"I've seen several cases where passengers have not been allowed to fly," a flight attendant for the airline told Bishop. "We had to leave them behind." She also explained that the airline doesn't accommodate passengers in such situations, expecting them to simply find new tickets on their own.
As Bishop argued, he wasn't making an "oversight" by his attire. He said that he reviewed all the emails and communication he received before his flight and also scoured the carrier's website without finding information about the current ban on shorts.
"Why not inform me of the no-shorts clause when I checked in with one of their agents two and a half hours prior to the flight? Wouldn't that make more sense than when the gate is about to close?" he wrote.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
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