American Airlines Made This Man Change His Shirt Or He Couldn’t Fly

Jemima Aladin flew American Airlines out of Miami, and captured a man being brought up to the front lavatory to change his shirt, or else he wouldn’t be able to fly.

Video has been archived. I won’t embed it here, but you can watch if you wish. Language on the shirt is ‘Not Safe For Work From Home’. I’ve redacted a word in this photo:

The whole point of wearing a shirt like that, I suppose, is to be provocative and to start conversations. It doesn’t make an argument, so it’s not likely to persuade. I’d bet the wearer gets a lot of reactions, the thumbs up are exhilarating and the nasty comments probably are a thrill too.

But stuck with a very small-d democratic group, whose only thing in common is that they’re sharing a metal tube for two to three hours, hurtling towards 500 miles per hour 30,000 feet in the air generating that kind of conflict is… inadvisable.

There’s been enough conflict in the skies, especially considering passenger numbers are down right now by about two-thirds. A good portion of those conflicts have been over masks, and sometimes that conflict is even when a passenger is wearing one like last month when American removed a woman wearing an F-12 maskshould make us uncomfortable as American’s own CEO reminded us in May. My suggestion though is to wear the mask, or the shirt, through the airport – but not on the plane.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Sometimes, it’s appropriate to call a Code Red.

    Google that and you’ll know immediately to what I’m referring.

  2. We’d be a lot happier in our own countries with our own people. There is plenty of land for the left and right to have homes of their own where they can self govern. Why do people keep pretending that the present situation should be continued indefinitely when it is destroying our hapiness.

  3. Many years ago a lady on Southwest wore a shirt that said “F” Bush and Cheney. She was kicked off after refusing to cover up with the jacket she had with her. She said her first amendment rights were violated and was going to sue. She apparently didn’t understand how that those rights work.

  4. My political leanings are likely similar to this man; however I support AA giving him the option of changing his shirt or getting off the flight. AA is a private business. They can set standards.

  5. With an attitude like that to “cops”, as though they are all the same, which is becoming a pandemic of it’s own, I wonder if he realizes that the next time he or a family member needs to call 911, there is a very real possibility no one will even answer the phone. And if someone does answer, the time they arrive may be 3 or 4 hours later.

    Not sure about today, but a short time ago in Seattle, the person who did answer the 911 call simply said “Sorry, nothing we can do for you”, and hung up.

    As for the “racism” (sic) part, a recent Rasmussen Poll found that 80% of Black voters said they wanted the same amount of police in their community, or even MORE. 😉

    Breaking news: The Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) has put up two billboards along Interstate 35 entering Austin after the city council voted last month to cut the Austin police budget. One of them reads: “Warning! Austin defunded police. Enter at your own risk!”

    The second says, “Limited support next 20 miles,” according to the association.

    TMPA, the largest law enforcement association in Texas, said on Facebook it released the billboards – which include the hashtag #BacktheBlue – “to raise public awareness that Austin is a defunded city.”

  6. I love how Hanson makes up fake stories and claim they are true. Only his kind actually believe such crap.

  7. I will be so glad sooooo glad when we get this election over and we can go back to being normal people again.

  8. “I’d bet the wearer gets a lot of reactions, the thumbs up are exhilarating and the nasty comments probably are a thrill too.“

    So, you’re saying it’s a thumbs up?

  9. Agree with AA requiring the person to cover up but comparing the lie of “defunding the police” which is not true with this incident is stretching things. If you understood the argument, police have received millions of dollars in excess military equipment while social services have been cut in huge proportions. Why are the police having to play psychiatrist in addition to drug counselor while handling their other responsibilities? Funds need to be “redirected” towards services that compliment our police. Until there is a re-examine of our priorities, individuals such as this man and those who blindly follow certain media’s lies of “defunding police” will never find peace and a responsible solution.

  10. This is trolling, plain and simple. It’s akin to political lawn signs or bumper stickers. When was the last time you saw a bumper sticker that made you think “Wow, I’ve totally been wrong in my political perspectives up until now. That bumper sticker really set me straight on what I should be thinking.” ? Or “Judy is really politically aware, so even though I completely disagreed with her until now I’ll defer to her opinion.”? Trolling is childish and counterproductive, as well as making the person doing it look like an idiot.

  11. @Robert Hanson

    We call the cops when we need help because cops literally will arrest us for not using their services (failure to report). It’s not because many of us want to use their services, pay for them, or want them to exist. We want security from thugs, vandals, thieves, looters, rioters, rapists, and murderers; we don’t want cops arresting people for not wearing a mask, for making a personal choice for one’s own body (drugs, alcohol, seat belts, tanning, soda), enforcing big government bureaucracy we don’t want to exist, gun control that puts us at the mercy of thugs and cops, or speech control.

    It’s unfortunate society increasingly pushes us to support one side or the other instead of saying both sides are wrong. BLM wants to defund police so thugs can continue running wild in cities like Chicago and get away with it. Sensible people will want to reduce funding for police because some of it is unnecessary/harmful/abusive (the war on drugs/seat belt laws/nanny state laws/tax laws) and leads to over-policing and under policing of actual dangerous crimes. BLM falsely making it about race delegitimizes the whole cause as it’s blacks who commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime and interracial violence, and cops abuse all groups of people. A white 13 year old boy with autism was shot multiple times in his bedroom after his mother called 911 for help when he was having a tantrum. He had no weapons and is a 5’2 110 pound 13 year old. She wanted help in getting him to calm down from his emotional outburst as he was hitting his head against a wall. She didn’t want cops to shoot him in his own bedroom. White lives are victims too of bad use of force policies and inept/reckless/stupid cops. BLM should stop ignoring that cops harm all people.

    If it were one or the other, obviously I’d choose Back the Blue (with qualifications about police reform and pledges not to enforce liberal laws) over the rioting, looting, violence, and hate from Defund/BLM followers. Hopefully more blacks realize that it doesn’t help their people to embrace thug culture and support all this ridiculous violence. People who are marginally successful don’t want their homes and businesses destroyed or be persecuted because some changes in policing are needed. That’s not helpful. We do need changes and the right are the best bet on making them and continuing the push for good policies (free speech, religious freedom, less bureaucracy, gun rights, pro American manufacturing & energy jobs, and no more stupid wars that waste trillions and thousands of American lives). Domestic spying reform, and limiting tsa/customs are also needed.

  12. The shirt has written vulgarities on it? Then can’t say I’m surprised that the airline would enforce its policy that passenger attire not be offensive. Rather, in the interest of consistency, that is what I’d expect.

    What about those “___[same vulgarity]___ cancer” words on clothes and accessories that people wear while traveling in places? Would AA ban such too?

  13. Jackson Henderson makes a point. Perhaps Democrats would be better in their own country. Angela Davis should rise to the occasion and we could have another President Davis and CSA II. California, Washington and Oregon could jump on board and the White House of the New Confederacy could be in Santa Cruz. Trump would need no Sherman to march to the sea to burn the Confederacy as the west coast states are already mostly on fire. Who knows, Trump might look good in a beard, but unfortunately for Democrats he regularly watches TV rather than going to the theater.

  14. Good for AA. While I support the movement of equality amoung all, profanity in a public setting has become extreme and we need to still respect all people rights. While I agree with some of his t-shirt, just calling out George Floyd or BLM will get the message across. Using profanity while, expressing frustration and angry, also belittles the work others have done and can turn people off the work that needs to be done. Keep it above the line so the true message and work doesn’t get lost.

  15. @GUWonder — I would hope that if someone wore a shirt “F*** (spelled out) Cancer”, AA would make them remove it as well.

    Grow up people. Learn how to articulate your position without vulgarities and profanities.

  16. @Dot Obviously just the way you write shows you lack a quality education. Right now the idiots running the White House have turned it into the outhouse that needs to be sanitized.

  17. Good for AA. Regardless of your views, it’s high time businesses started setting and enforcing some standards for how people behave in their spaces.

  18. Sorry, you lost me at miloes per hour and so many feet in the air. Makes absolutely no sense. Use metric.

  19. They didn’t go far enough. You losers should all at least wear polo shirts and slacks at a minimum, otherwise the standards should be suit and tie. Have some self respect and dress appropriately for a public setting and have manners.

Comments are closed.