What is the United Airlines 311 rule?
The United Airlines 311 rule relates to a dress code policy that the airline sought to implement in 2021. It said that anyone in leggings, belly shirts, or any other attire that the airline considers inappropriate would not be allowed on board.
The Controversy In March 2021, United made the news when they denied several girls wearing leggings to board a flight from Denver to Minneapolis due to a violation of the airline’s dress code policy. This led to outrage on social media and accusations of sexism and body-shaming.
The official contract of carriage of United does contain a clause regarding passenger’s clothing, appearance, and sanitation. Rule 21 H1 refers to passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed and might be denied to board the flight. The language is ambiguous on purpose to provide leeway for flight attendants and gate agents to define what is acceptable.
Rule 21 H1: The History Following the leggings scandal, people wondered why United Airlines had such a policy regarding passengers’ clothing. It was an object that drove reporters to investigate its past.
The authors also discovered that Rule 21 H1 has been included in United’s contract since the 1960s. Various other major carriers in the USA also have similar policies whereby they are entitled to bar passengers deemed to be improperly attired.
The policies were developed in the period when air travel was aimed at the high-end audience and viewed as a privilege. Airlines desired to position themselves as upper-class carriers and avoid anything that could potentially spoil this image—rude, clumsy, or vulgar persons.
For the past decades, the rule has not been strictly implemented in the societies. On most occasions, gate agents did not comment on the clothes that passengers wore, only if the latter was being rude or abusive in some way.
The Failure in Communication What went wrong in Denver in 2021 was a lack of dialogue between the corporate management and the working force concerning the appropriate interpretation of Rule 21 H1 in the contemporary world.
Nevertheless, the words used have not changed and it is possible to observe that the clothing culture was much stricter than nowadays, at least in the 1960s. Tights and yoga trousers have entered the mainstream. United’s top executives have it right that the rule remains on the books to avoid such heinous acts but it should not be applied to regulate women’s conduct or dress code today that includes exposure to more skin.
However, the gate employees in Denver seemed to interpret the rule quite literally. The officers had not had adequate subsequent training in how to enforce Rule 21 H1 with cultural and gender sensitivity to the evolving norms of dress.
Repealing the Rule As a result of the leggings scandal, United was under increasing pressure to repeal or amend Rule 21 H1 because it was considered vague, subjective, and misogynistic.
Some complained that United had no right to make value judgments on its passengers’ fashion sense. They said that what may appear as carelessness or indecent to one may be trendy to another. It can also selectively single out specific categories of individuals based on gender, body size, race, and so on.
Some saw United as ensuring compliance with simple rules regarding dress codes, while others complained that they had to have guidelines that left not much room for interpretation.
United's Response United’s CEO Oscar Munoz soon released a written statement, explaining they should not have prevented the girls from wearing leggings, and promised to revise the wording of the policy statement.
Although Rule 21 H1 still exists today to provide the airline the way to act if someone showed up inappropriately dressed, United assured that the vagueness of the rule would not result in another leggings debacle. They stated that leggings are fully allowed and that they have no plans to dictate clothing that is acceptable for passengers to wear. They reminded staff that they were present to ensure safety and diversity and not to police clothing choices.
This led to policy debates across players in the airline business. Some of the carriers realized that ambiguous regulations leave them exposed to discrimination lawsuits and loss of clientele. It focused on discussions about new changes in the code of conduct.
Lessons to be Learned from the 311 Rule Controversy This is because without clear direction, employees may have different perceptions of the vague policies and hence there will be a problem of equality, unfair treatment, and discrimination. Organizations should engage in continuous training and inform when the rules require an update on how to apply them with sensitivity.
The public response also demonstrated that there has been a change in the perception of society on matters of dress code, gender-related issues, and even body shaming. The policies that may have been adopted some time ago should be reviewed and updated to reflect the new culturally sensitive policies.
Although airlines remain entitled to refuse boarding or eject rude or scantily clad passengers, the legging scandal made United and other airlines clarify that they no longer wish to police people’s fashion choices or limit their freedom of movement. Passengers should not be stressed about plane rides as the occasion has become more casual and clothes that are appropriate for now will not have them banned from the aircraft.
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