Deniz Saypinar, the first Turkish woman to become an International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness pro and the first non-American to win the US National Bikini Fitness Competition, is a fitness model with over 1 million followers on Instagram. American Airlines denied her boarding on a flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Miami on Thursday because they found her attire too revealing.
In an Instagram story she said the airline’s employees called her “naked.” She posted photos of her outfit at the airport. Here she is in a DFW bathroom wearing “a brown top, denim shorts and trainers, as well as a white blouse tied around her waist.”
Saypinar says she “like[s] to wear feminine clothes that reveal my femininity, but I never dress in a way that will offend anyone. I’m mature and civilized enough to know what I can and cannot wear.” She felt treated “like the worst person in the world for wearing denim shorts.”
To her it’s an issue of feminism and religious freedom, offering that she “moved from Islamic country because how they treat women as a [redacted] second or third even no class and now this is happening.”
According to American Airlines,
On July 8, American Airlines denied boarding for a customer traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth to Miami. As stated in the conditions of carriage, all customers must dress appropriately and offensive clothing isn’t permitted onboard our flights.
The customer was advised of our policy and was rebooked on a subsequent flight. The customer has since arrived in Miami.
In November Southwest Airlines kicked a Playboy Playmate off a flight over her revealing outfit. And in October a Southwest pilot gave a woman his sweater so she’d be allowed to fly since her “low-cut black halter top” was deemed inappropriate for the airline which plastered a bikini model on the side of one of its Boeing 737s.
Southwest is known for these sorts of incidents the way that Spirit Airlines and the U.K.’s Jet2 are known for lewd and drunk passenger stories. But passenger dress issues happen at American, too.
Virgin America, since acquired by Alaska Airlines, famously declared ‘all passengers are welcome’ after a woman was photographed at one of their checkin desks in her underwear.
I’m torn between…. DAMN! I wanna be on her flight and…. It isn’t American’s, or any other airlines, job to make sure you can get some good snaps for your Instagram acct.
While she’d get the reaction from me she seems to crave, her clothing would absolutely be offensive to some. A modicum of restraint isn’t asking a lot.
Last- Where do I find these flights?!! Asking for a friend
She seems to enjoy pushing the envelope. Out of a billion ways to dress, she chose this way.
She got the publicity!
She knew exactly what she was doing (dressing like a hooker) in order to get publicity, which like a dog chasing a bone(r), you gave to her. Between the constant AA rants, self serving editorials that nobody cares about, and crap like this I’m reading your blog less and less.
Haters gonna hate. Likely a tanker at check-in counter who never looked half as good.
This is how 50% of women in Miami dress on a daily basis. Nothing out of the norm here.
Wow it’s like pigs flew, for once American Airlines did the right thing. While the woman’s outfit may be appropriate for Instagram, it’s obviously so far out of whack on a plane. I don’t express my masculinity by rocking out with my penis out.
Miami-bound. Says it all.
People wear a lot less on the beach in Miami.
How I miss the day when PAX dressed up.
Gone are the days that women wore hats and white gloves on a flight and their male companions wore suits. Like Virginia Slims once said “You’ve come a long way Baby!”
But come on….when I can clearly see breast nipples – we’ve gone too far!
Maybe the answer is a simple dress code by all airlines.
These comments sound like an AARP convention. Hey, grandpas, post more about when movies cost a quarter.
She was able to successfully get attention for her actions. The airline ticket was a lot cheaper than hiring an agent. Her mission was successful
A bunch of jealous overweight American Women. She can sit next to me any day. Not offended in the least! Americans need to grow up and get away from the current culture where everyone is offended by everything. Ridiculous!!!
Good move AA! Longing for the days when decent attire was custom.
Should burqas be required? Should micro bikinis be allowed?
Are there any written rules or does each airline employee have absolute power to impose their individual criteria?
I don’t see the issue. Apart from going to and from her seat, she’s unlikely to be seen by anyone apart from her seatmates.
It is the nipples that drew the attention.
The white bouse tied around her waist is hiding the short-short-shorts she is wearing.
Look at the pockets of the jean shorts hanging out to see the high cut, and I can only imagine what those shorts look like from behind, no wonder she had to wrap the white shirt around her shorts. But then it was no long available to cover the nipples.
Yeah it is too revealing, over the top.
Okay for the beach but not an airplane.
I have seen passengers who are on the verge of topless with the entire cleavage showing several times on my flights to Miami when flying American (although it has now been a few years since I flew American as I now patronize JetBlue) and that has never been an issue to the airline. Can’t help but think whoever denied her boarding didn’t like a person of her ethnic origin expressing herself the way she did (which based on her photo I think is within the rules of appropriate clothing, especially on a domestic flight in the United States from Dallas to Miami).
Yea I saw other pictures of her in this outfit and she wasn’t wearing the shirt tied around her waist. These after the fact bathroom shots aren’t necessarily completely representative of how someone appeared in the terminal. Feels more like a publicity stunt because there are enough of these stories out there that it should be pretty clear to people by this point what is not appropriate or may be borderline inappropriate for a plane.
Put some clothes on. You’re on a plan and not a street corner.
Hilarious! Becoming ‘offended’ about some idiot who wants to parade around in public nearly-naked is kind of silly. I feel sorry for a woman so eager for attention that she’d show up in public looking like a hooker. Instead of plane tix, these women should be spending their money on a good psychologist who could show them how to have a life.
Great for the beach. No good for the plane and unless she’s stupid, she knew it before she tried to board.
Probably 100 times better looking than the PIGs AA has as FAs.
An awful lot of judgement out there. Would people be happier if she wore traditional Islamic clothes?
@Jsnowe2213- a totally inappropriate comment to make, and you know that. Grow up.
@randy – “Breast nipples?” Should I be aware of some other type of nipple? Are there leg nipples or shoulder nipples? As to her appearance, I’m personally not a fan of the thunder thighs, but I appreciate a fit person, and she is definitely that. She’s a shining example to Americans what can be done with proper diet and exercise, something that is far too rare in our lovely country these days. I’m sure that those who love to scream in fear about, “Sharia Law!” are in rabid support of making her cover up. If it were Jason Momoa dressed like this, do you think the gate agent would’ve pushed him away?
I would most assuredly not want to be sitting next to her for several hours on a flight. More so, I would not care to occupy that seat after her. Never know what might be left behind.
Hey, I take great offense to the AARP comment. I am female, 65, very slim and fit. We frequently fly domestic/internationally. She is an Instagram influencer, so of course this gets her likes from her 1mm followers. I have seen much worse in the US/European/Asian airports and on planes. Oh, I also forgot about Walmart-only the cattle are supersized so I rather look at her, at least she’s in shape.
“American” you are a pig! Your comments are disgusting. I would be more than happy to sit next to her, not only is she beautiful but she is smart getting all of this publicity
Americans need to get over themselves. The GA was jealous. Blah blah blah
Now, put a thong Speedo and a torn wifebeater on a 6ft, 275lb, sweaty 60 year old man and I’m suddenly sure all of the people saying the crap above would be screaming for the airlines to do something about the attire people wear.
She’s a fine looking woman but she must have known that shorts that are only half the length of her short pockets might cause a stir.
Came for the pervert news, stay for the even perv commented at the perv blog.
What is interesting is that she is currently based in LA, so I suspect she already had been on LAX-DFW, no problem; it was only for the DFW-MIA leg that she had problems, by virtue of now being in Texas as opposed to California (or Miami).