A teen claims that she was told by a Monarch Airlines supervisor to strip in the middle of Manchester Airport because her shorts were too inappropriate.
Alix Townsend,18, was about the fly to Majorca with 18 friends for an 18th birthday party, when an airline supervisor asked her to take off high-cut shorts in front of hundreds of passengers before being allowed to check in. According to the airline, Townsend's shorts were "cut extremely high and the cheeks of her bottom were visible," the Daily Mail reports.
To see Alix and her shorts, click here.
Townsend says that the airline wouldn't let her go to the bathroom to change and she was humiliated and started crying after she was forced to strip by the check-in desk at the airport.
"I feel distraught - it was very embarrassing. I did not feel my outfit was inappropriate - there were other passengers in similar dress. When the supervisor told me to change rather rudely I was taken aback," she said according to the Daily Mail.
"I agreed as I did not want to risk not getting on the flight. However, when I asked if I could go to the toilet to change and she made me change in front of everyone," Townsend, from Lytham St Anne's in Lancashire said,
She claims that she had to go through her suitcase and put on a long caftan that covered her legs so she could take off her shorts and put on a longer pair of white shorts.
"They had plenty of opportunity to approach me while we were queuing. I could have gone away and changed, maintaining some dignity," Townsend said.
"To single out my daughter for her attire is unacceptable. She was dressed appropriately," Lee Tompson, Alix's father said. "She was understandably distraught. Other passengers were dressed in a risqué manner but not told to change."
A spokesman for Monarch Airlines denies that Townsend was told that she couldn't go to the bathroom to change. "Miss Townsend was politely asked to change to comply with the airline's dress policy. We do not believe there are grounds for complaint," the spokesman said.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
