Second Passenger Says Southwest Made Her Cover Up

DALLAS, Sept. 13, 2007 — -- A second young woman has come forward to claimthat Southwest Airlines employees made her cover up on a recentflight, leading jet-setters to ask: Will my outfit fly?

Setara Qassim said a flight attendant confronted her during thetrip from Tucson, Ariz., to Burbank, Calif., and asked whether shehad a sweater to go over her green halter-style dress.

Qassim, 21, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles she was forced to wrap ablanket around herself for the rest of the flight. She complainedthat if Southwest wants passengers to dress a certain way, itshould publish a dress code.

Last week, 23-year-old Kyla Ebbert said a Southwest employeepulled her aside as she was preparing to board a plane departingSan Diego for Tucson in July and told her she was dressed tooprovocatively to fly.

Ebbert, who took her case to NBC's "Today Show," said she wasallowed on the plane after adjusting her sweater and short skirt.She said she was humiliated and felt the stares of other passengerswho had overheard the verbal dressing-down.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. acknowledged the incidentinvolving Ebbert, but airline spokesman Chris Mainz said thecompany had no record that Qassim ever complained.

Messages left with Qassim at her California home were notimmediately returned to The Associated Press.

Southwest -- which dressed its stewardesses in hot pants andcalled itself "the love airline" back in the 1970s -- relies onemployees to decide whether a passenger's attire may offend othercustomers, Mainz said.

"We don't have a dress code. We rely on our employees to usecommon sense, good judgment and good taste," Mainz said. "It's sorare for us to have to address a customer's clothing issue."

American Airlines claims the right to refuse to carry passengersfor a variety of reasons, including being drunk, barefoot, havingan offensive odor or being "clothed in a manner that would causediscomfort or offense to other passengers."

"It's generally a graphic on a T-shirt that might beuncomfortable" to another passenger, said American Airlinesspokesman Tim Wagner. "We always find ways to mitigate it as bestpossible, with not allowing someone on a flight being the lastoption."

David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association,the trade group of the major U.S. airlines, said he didn't know ofany airline having a dress code for passengers.

Lynda White, who teaches etiquette classes and calls herself"The First Lady of Manners," said many young people have gottenlax on what to wear and how to act - possibly influenced byHollywood stars. She recommends "business-casual" outfits for theplane because you might be seated next to a potential employer orbusiness contact.

"If you wear provocative clothing, tattoos, or you smell ofalcohol or cigarettes, who's going to believe you?" she said.