Thomas Cook flight staff ask 21-yr-old girl to cover up 'offensive' crop top

Emily O'Connor in the "offensive" cropped top and high-waist pants (Image: Twitter)

Even in the twenty-first century, a 21-year-old woman was asked to wear a jacket to cover up her “offensive”, “inappropriate” crop top.

On March 2, the trainee accountant had boarded a 7.20 am Thomas Cook flight from Birmingham Airport to Tenerife. She was out for a four-day break to the Canary Island with five of her friends, including her cousin.

She was dressed in a black cropped top (bralette) and ochre paper bag waistline trousers from fast-fashion brand Zara.

Talking about her ordeal, she told a tabloid: "I felt they were being sexist and misogynistic. They sexualised and ridiculed me, and it was the worst experience of my life."

O'Connor informed she had no trouble getting through airport security but was surrounded by around four crew members after boarding the flight. She added they were ready to ask her to leave if she did not cover up.

Since she was told that it was a dress code concern, she pointed out that a man sitting a few rows behind her was in shorts and a vest, but no one questioned him.

On being intercepted, when she asked her co-passengers if they were offended by her outfit, no one came forward to support her. According to a Twitter post, O’Connor shared, matters went worse when an airline staff commented about the situation on speaker.

Flying from Bham to Tenerife, Thomas Cook told me that they were going to remove me from the flight if I didn’t “cover up” as I was “causing offence” and was “inappropriate”. They had 4 flight staff around me to get my luggage to take me off the plane. pic.twitter.com/r28nvSYaoY

— Emily O'Connor (@emroseoconnor) March 12, 2019

While she didn’t have to leave the flight, thanks to her cousin, who handed her a jacket, the flight crew allegedly didn’t leave until she "psychically put it on".

An airline spokesman told The Post that the cabin service’s director spoke to O'Connor personally and apologised.

The airlines also issued a statement in apology, reading: "We are sorry that we upset Ms O'Connor. It's clear we could have handled the situation better. In common with most airlines we have an appropriate attire policy. This applies equally to men and women of all ages without discrimination. Our crews have the difficult task of implementing that policy and don't always get it right."