U.S. Airways Allows Man in Underwear to Fly
June 22, 2011— -- At a time when airport behavior is closely scrutinized for anything unusual, passengers on a recent US Airways flight were surprised to find a fellow traveler dressed only in a blue bra and underwear, a sheer white sweater, black platform heels and stockings. The passenger was a man.
Jill Tarlow, an Arizona woman who was on board the June 9 flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix, sent a photo of the unidentified passenger to the San Francisco Chronicle. She said that despite other passengers' complaints regarding the man's attire, he was allowed to board.
US Airways declined comment to ABC News, but spokeswoman Valerie Wunder told the Chronicle that employees acted correctly by not removing the man from the flight.
The incident came just days before 20 year-old University of New Mexico football player Deshon Marman made headlines when he was booted off a US Airways flight after airline personnel approached him about his pants sagging too low. Marman was arrested on June 15 after told to leave get off the plane. He claims that his pajama bottoms were loose, but that just the top of his underwear were in public view.
Man Dressed Only in Women's Underwear Allowed to Board US Air Flight
Veteran flight attendant Mark Gentile, currently a US Airways union rep for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA MEC, said that this case of the lingerie wearing man is "certainly one of the most bizarre."
"I could see how someone could take offense to it because you're sitting inches away from someone on an aircraft and people respect their privacy and don't what to have that invaded," he said.
Gentile, who has been a flight attendant for 34 years, said that passengers behaving in bizarre ways is not uncommon.
"I'm surprised there aren't books written on the situations that occur … I don't think you could dream up this particular one," he said, recalling a time in his career when he witnessed a man try to use a closet as a bathroom on a redeye flight. "There's always something new that comes up."
