NEED TO KNOW
- A Spirit Airlines passenger claims she was denied boarding due to her shorts, the airline says it was her “disruptive behavior”
- Tanasia Grayer was trying to board a Chicago-bound flight from Miami on Wednesday, July 16, when the incident occurred
- Grayer’s sister, Jessica Kordelewski, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing after a warning
A woman is claiming Spirit Airlines denied her from boarding a flight because of her shorts. The airline says it was her “disruptive behavior” that caused the incident.
According to CBS Miami, Tanasia Grayer planned to board a Chicago-bound flight from Miami International Airport on Wednesday, July 16. When she arrived at the gate, she claims Spirit personnel told her she wasn’t allowed to board because of her outfit.
“We were getting ready to board the plane, and the lady at the front desk, she stopped me and said, ‘You’re not getting on a plane like that,’” Grayer told the outlet. “So I looked at her and I said ‘Like what?’ She said, ‘With those shorts.’”
Grayer alleges she walked through the airport without anyone telling her to change. Wearing a pink robe overtop, she says her clothes were not revealing at all.
“They said that you can’t have the bottom or your butt out,” she said. “That’s why this robe is on so that I’m not too revealing.”
She added: “I was in the airport for 40 minutes, y’all should’ve told me. That way I could’ve went and changed my clothes to put anything else on.”
In a clip of the confrontation with airport authorities shared with CBS Miami, a woman in the background can be heard shouting “I’m confused, this is crazy, this is insane.” Grayer said that was her sister, Jessica Kordelewski, who was arrested and accused of disorderly conduct and trespassing after a warning.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Spirit said their records show “a guest was not in compliance with our Contract of Carriage and refused to comply when provided an opportunity to do so.” The statement says their Contact of Carriage contains certain clothing standards for all passengers.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty I
“The guest and their travel companion were eventually denied boarding after displaying disruptive behavior,” the statement read.
“I’m going home,” Kordelewski told CBS Miami after she was released from jail.
“We are done with Miami, we ain’t never coming here again,” Grayer added.
According to the outlet, the sisters booked another flight with a different airline to get home. She explained she wouldn’t wear the same outfit to avoid any troubles.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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According to Spirit’s Contract of Carriage, guests shall not be permitted on an aircraft and may be required to leave if they are “barefoot or inadequately clothed,” or if their clothing or body art is considered “lewd, obscene or offensive in nature.” Listed examples include see-through clothing exposing breasts, buttocks or other private parts.
According to USA Today, the airline recently updated this policy in January 2025. Before, the contract did not specify clothing examples nor body art.
