An influencer recently went shirtless in Emirates business class, sparking debate about what’s acceptable behavior onboard premium flights. While some have dismissed this as harmless, the issue goes beyond etiquette—it’s a genuine hygiene concern, raising questions about whether passengers should be putting bare skin directly on seats others will soon use.
One Mile at a Time highlighted the influencer who posted their “business class morning routine” on an Emirates Airbus A380 business class flight from New York JFK to Milan. They woke up shirtless in the lie flat seat, did a bathroom freshen-up, got dressed, put in their contacts and brushed their teeth, ate breakfast and watched a movie.
Here’s my business class morning routine flying Emirates. Blessed to be waking up horizontal. First I greeted the boys, then I headed to the bathroom to freshen up, outfitted myself, little brush of the pearls, popped on my lenses. I was ready for breakfast. I ordered the crepe and it was unbelievable. It was about an hour left in the flight, tossed on a movie, and enjoyed the rest of the trip. Peace.
@jpark_fit Horizontal 30,000ft in the sky is a W. #emirates #jparkfit #morningroutine ♬ original sound – Jeremy Park
One Mile at a Time defends the passenger by:
- Recasting it, saying he probably wasn’t actually shirtless for long, and assumes he was actually faking it for social media clout.
- And says he “the guy didn’t harm anyone else by doing this, and at least he seems to have a positive vibe”
He’s probably right it’s performative. We don’t know whether the passenger actually slept with his shirt off. On the other hand, we also don’t know how long he had it off even if it was just for the video (like, how many takes did it take?).
This ignores the hygiene issue of the man’s body on the seat (and seat on his body for the next passenger). And airlines don’t treat sleep as a strip-down event! Two years ago Emirates introduced new pajamas in business class on flights of 9 or more hours. They did this for a reason. JFK – Milan is just 7.5 hours, so bring your own!
Besides, once you normalize going shirtless in business class you’re inviting passengers to test the limits even further. Pants, no pants? Shirtless walking the aisle (‘but just to the lavatory and back’). Emirates business class is not a private suite. You don’t even have the privacy for this in Emirates first class on this aircraft, because the walls aren’t high and anyone walking by can see you.
The world went nuts when a passenger on United wore just a t-shirt and underwear. And she was covering up with a t-shirt! So defending this guy seems pretty gendered?
A Delta flight nearly diverted to Tokyo over a business class passenger without pants. The issue was children around. Then again, a United passenger took off his pants on an Orlando flight and no one said a word. And here a shirtless passenger on United went unremarked upon, so maybe everyone else just thinks this is normal?
Of course, I tend to think that bare feet on planes is a problem.
Politely, this argument is a classic slippery slope fallacy. It asserts a causal chain from passengers being shirtless in their suites to being shirtless walking around the plane or pantless with no clear evidence that each step would cause the next one. General western cultural norms look far kinder on a male not wearing a shirt in public than anyone not wearing pants in public, so this is not a logical next step. Nor is the walking around the plane one.
@ Gary — “This ignores the hygiene issue of the man’s body on the seat (and seat on his body for the next passenger).”
But the guy’s body wasn’t on the seat. Emirates has mattress pads in business class, and he was clearly on one (which is why the surface is lighter in color). Those are changed between each flight.
Seems like his stunt worked as intended, since all the travel blogs are covering it and it went viral. If you don’t want to encourage the behavior, don’t write about it.
“Influencer” seems to be someone that caters towards young people with no real life and no future and instead trying to live the life they’d like to have through someone else. In this case an imbecile that exhibits the social decorum of a raccoon.
I don’t see a problem.
@ Gary — What a bunch of bs. The guy is hot. That’s all that matters here.
Relax people. He’s a sexy hot man. I’m fine if he wants to sleep shirtless and I may even grab my blankie and jump in his seat with him! That, in itself, would be worth the business class fare for that segment!! Woof!!
@Todd S — *bark bark bark*
Ben would find some simping way to excuse this. He’s good at that.
What’s the big deal? I go shirtless every time I read this blog.
@ Larry — LOL.
Airlines spend millions on these seats for you to be comfortable to sleep. Many men sleep shirtless or don’t wear airline pajamas! Nothing wrong as long as he puts on a shirt when he leaves his seat . It’s all about comfort. Walking around an airplane in your underwear or no socks is UNACCEPTABLE!
Sad that by doing this stunt, this idiot is getting attention. Probably bought the ticket on miles too and is faking being a “business guru”.
lol george romey weird take unc. nearly half of all influencers made between $50k and $500k in 2023, and as of november 2025, the average annual pay for an influencer in the states is $65,245. that’ll pay for your own roof in most markets and there’s no indication that the antiquated internet commenter stereotype you’re operating with applies
https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-much-do-influencers-make
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Influencer-Salary
Influencers are useless— over-hyped greed and looking for an easy way to gain various sorts of remuneration. The whole thing is revolting !
He seems to have a 6-pack of reasons to take his shirt off.
Shirtless men belong in their bedrooms at home. There’s always this and that concern, rightfully. This man acts like he is a home owner or renter and is at home, he is not.
And no matter what may be on the seats, or just their own materials, they belong to the airlines, staff who clean them and belong to the next passengers who pay to use them.
Shirts and shorts or pants provide both privacy and a layer between sweat and others’ materials.
Get your shirt on!
I say the same about footwear on airplanes and in public otherwise. Don’t downgrade from what is worn in, if shoes and socks, keep both on and don’t switch shoes and or socks, don’t wear just socks. If wearing sandals already, (not on airplanes for safety reasons though) they are okay to stay on in public because the feet are not sweaty going from other footwear to them, but keep the sandals on. Only hats, jackets, coats and over-pants may be added, changed or taken off.
There is no explanation on how this constitutes a hygiene problem. What about people wearing tank tops on a plane, bare shoulders and arms is a hygiene problem? Since when? What about a t-shirt? Going shirtless on a plane may be inappropriate from a societal/cultural norm point of view, but the argument about hygiene is ridiculous.
An overweight fat man sweating through their clothes everywhere is far far worse than this.