United Airlines agents forbade two teenage girls from boarding a flight to Minneapolis because they were wearing leggings, according to witnesses and The Washington Post.
A third girl would have been kept off the plane as well, but she put a dress on over her leggings and was then allowed to board.
The three teens were traveling on a United Airlines employee pass. The airline said it has a no-leggings policy for employees using their benefits to fly. A spokesman for United Airlines contacted by The Washington Post told the paper that the girls in question were "not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel."
The spokesman says leggings are prohibited clothing for those flyers using the employee travel benefit, but did not clarify further.
Another passenger aboard the flight tweeted United about the incident.
The post has gone viral, with many on social media critical of the policy, saying its wrong to police the teen’s attire and that leggings are comfortable travel wear.