Angry American Airlines Non-Rev Passenger Goes on a Facebook Rant

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Email address

Sign up

By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Airlines and their dress code requirements for non-revenue passengers have caused a lot of controversy in past years. Remember last year's #LeggingsGate when United created a stir on social media after denying boarding two "non-rev" female passengers from boarding because they were wearing leggings? Last week, an American Airlines passenger went on an angry social media rant after the airline denied her boarding.

Non-revenue passengers fly on stand-by because a friend or family member works for a particular airline company, but American had a strict dress code policy used to prevent these passengers from boarding their planes if a passenger is not properly clothed. Last year, the airline decided to relax its dress code policy and allows passengers to wear whatever they want — as long as the clothing is "neat and clean" and does not "offend or distract."

So when a non-rev passenger tried boarding an American flight from Miami to New York in tattered, ripped denim shorts, the airline told her her outfit was inappropriate. The passenger, Nardia Bennet, followed up by posting a 28-minute live stream berating American and its employees.

The video features Nardia swearing at employees demanding that the airline treat her and her daughter with more respect, but the airline is saying the way Nardia handled the situation and yelled at employees also prevented her from boarding the flight. Nardia continued on Facebook on Thursday that she plans on suing American because of the way they treated her. The video showed no signs of mistreatment, but it's up to American to decide whether a passenger's outfit meets their standards, even with its more relaxed policy.