Southwest Airlines in the news

I came across this article about Southwest Airlines having told a female passenger to cover up because her clothing was deemed too revealing. Most curious. With respect to clothing and any purported "dress code," there probably is a line beyond which they should take action, but the two recent reports of women who were asked to "cover up" don't on the surface seem to qualify.

Officially the airline says they leave it up to their employee's "common sense and judgment." That's probably accurate, but it does make the similarities between the incidents rather curious. Perhaps someone complained. That's reasonable, but of course just because one person thinks a woman's halter dress is offensive doesn't mean that it is.

I found some comments (from the article) made by a Lynda White, self-styled "First Lady of Manners" to be interesting. She recommends "business casual attire, in case you happen to be seated next to a potential employer or business contact. If you wear provocative clothing, tattoos, or you smell of alcohol or cigarettes, who's going to believe you?"

Indeed. If one is traveling on business perhaps one should maintain a business-like image, particularly if one intends to network while on the plane. On the other hand, if you're not trying to impress anyone, why bother? The choice, to my point, should be up to you.

As an aside, I used to travel on business. This was pre-9/11, so attitudes were much more relaxed. There were a few occasions I talked (and had copious drinks) with my row-mates, but mostly I just read or slept. On a few occasions I witnessed fairly obvious sexual activity going on around me, though not any that involved explicit public nudity. I have also observed flight attendants conspicuously not interfering with what they obviously were seeing. At that time it seemed passenger privacy was more important than propriety. My point is that if I knew what was going on, so did others.

Maybe Southwest Airlines is afraid of the liability they'd face if some old lady's eyeballs exploded because she saw a young woman's bare shoulders. I don't know, but that could do it.