Southwest Airlines Fashion Statement

Southwest Airlines Fashion Statement

I don’t know who to feel more sad about – Southwest Airlines or some of their customers who – in their selection of travel attire – are doing their part to contribute to the coarsening of our culture. The airlines was soundly derided in the press for being the “fashion police” with mini-skirted Kyla Ebbert, who got her 15 minutes of fame, which she – judging from her attention-grabbing attire, no doubt enjoyed. The airlines issued an apology and offered Ebbert complimentary tickets and wound up with egg on its corporate face.

One would think the folks at Southwest would have learned their lesson and gotten their act together, but they repeated the same thing only a few weeks later, the latest one being a confrontation with Joe Winiecki, who complained that the airline company was infringing on his – I kid you not – freedom of speech.

Currently, the reality in this society is that, as long as Ebbert has certain critical parts of her anatomy fully covered, she’s pretty much free to parade around in public looking like a prostitute in the window of an Amsterdam bordello as much as she likes. And although I can think of more socially conscious ways in which to exercise my freedom of expression than wearing “Master Baiter” on my chest, Winiecki is also free to look like an idiot, too, so long as neither of them violates any public lewdness or pornography laws. The trouble is that these types of laws are vague, and Southwest’s dress code policies are vague. And with these confrontations with fashion-challenged customers, immediately followed by backing off and then later apologizing, their policies are getting even more vague.

They claim that they don’t have a dress code, but that they also reserve the right to ask anyone to leave who is dressed in an offensive manner. That’s pretty subjective stuff. “Offensive manner,” like pornography, is often in the eye of the “I-know-it-when-I-see-it” beholder.

It’s doubtful that either Ebbert or Winiecki offended the flight attendants because FAs tend to be a pretty jaded crowd. I know – I use to have a sister-in-law who worked as a FA for American Airlines for over 20 years, and most of them have seen it all and done it all. Therefore, I suspect that another – or others, plural – passengers complained. And herein lies the problem: Southwest Airlines is has a duty to keep all of its customers reasonably happy. So what to do? Satisfy one at the risk of offending or humiliating another?

I’m sure I’m showing my age here when I say that I can remember when flying use to be a nice – almost glamorous – experience, in which one was surrounded by other civilized, well-behaved folk. As more and more of the public has begun to fly, the experience has evolved – or perhaps I should say “devolved” – into something like being on a bus. I’m sure there are enough of us out there who are not as critical of Southwest as is the media but rather sympathize with them in our longing for the good old days of civility and modesty. So I think Southwest will get more of a free pass from the public on this faux pas than most would imagine.

However, it avoid these future types of black eyes in the press, Southwest is going to have to be consistent with what it has on paper about its policies and regulations and with what it says to the media and what it actually practices. And they’re going to have to make their policies clear to customers ahead of time. Otherwise they’re going to look like incompetent fools even to those of us who are currently willing to give them one more free pass.

This is a case of clearness of objective and clearness of message. Either Southwest Airlines communicates clearly that anything goes on their flights or they clearly communicate that there are dress standards, and if so, then they have to communicate that to all of their audiences. They failed to do so. Therefore, Ebbert and Winiecki do have legitimate grievances and were treated unjustly, and the company does indeed deserve the media whipping that it received.

The company has to decide what kind of reputation does it want. Does it want to be known as a full partner with the community – including those members of it who are questionably dressed? Does it want to brand itself as the company with standards for itself and its customers? Or does it want to continue to be seen as the company that waffles on its decision-making? It has to decide whether or not it is willing to forego some of its profits for dress standards, but it can’t have it both ways, which is what it appears to be doing. Meanwhile, the public will forgive a lot, but it won’t forgive an inability to be fair to all customers, clear and consistent in its message and strong in its decision-making – and thus far, that seems to be an idea that has been lost on Southwest Airlines at least twice in one month.