‘Treated like cattle’: Readers push back against calls for smarter airport dress

Independent readers reacting to the row over airport dress codes and passenger behaviour were far less concerned with leggings and pyjamas than with how flying now feels.

For many, the debate became a wider reckoning with what they see as an increasingly dehumanising travel experience – one in which civility has been eroded long before passengers reach the gate.

Commenters argued that airlines and airports have effectively “earned” the behaviour many now criticise, pointing to overcrowded terminals, poor communication, long queues and relentless cost-cutting. In that context, readers said choosing comfort over appearance was common sense – not disrespect.

Several said they now fly far less, or only travel business class, where they feel treated more like human beings – noting the irony of condemning pyjamas when several premium airlines hand them out on night flights.

A poll of readers reflected this divided mood. While the largest group backed “smart-casual, not PJs”, nearly as many prioritised comfort or said clothing was nobody else’s business, suggesting little appetite for a return to “golden age” standards.

Overall, readers were split on what people should wear but largely united on what needs fixing: not passengers’ wardrobes, but an industry that has normalised discomfort and then seems surprised when manners follow suit.

Here’s what you had to say:

Maybe if the airlines didn’t treat people like cattle, kept them informed, stopped herding people around and charging for every single thing they can these days… maybe then people would feel and possibly act just a little more civil in return.

slapand

Airlines get the respect that they give. You want decorum? Share some first. What are the profit margins of airlines? They’d push them up further if they could, and why? Just because for corporations, enough is never enough. Consumers have to set the bar, because corporates won’t. There’s a standing joke that it won’t be long until Ryanair et al introduce standing seats to fit more freight – ahem – passengers aboard their planes.

Hax0r

I pretty much stopped flying, unless I have to, and then I fly business. The hassle to get to the airport, which is often choked with traffic; the hassle to check in with no one to help (self-service, anyone?); even if you fly business, the hassle at security where you are shunted around at will and guilty until proven innocent; waiting in long lines to board, scanning for people who believe that cutting in line is a sport; delayed, belated, or aborted boarding; shuffling into a plane where there’s little to no room to stash anything, only to squeeze into a seat which is maybe appropriate for people with physiques of a two-year-old up to tween and shortened legs – all this before sitting on the tarmac, watching your luggage get tossed and stomped on during loading. Who needs this? I certainly don’t.

NewDawn3

Plenty of people have already made the point that airlines and airports treat their paying customers like cattle. I would argue that we are actually treated worse than cattle – at least cattle are provided with adequate space and given food and water on long trips. We are not forced to throw our food and water away before boarding and then fleeced when we have to replace it!

Air travel is horrible – and it is the airlines and airports that have deliberately made it so in search of ever-greater profits. But some of the worst bullies around are those who are smartly dressed – those who think their fame or fortune gives them the right to treat others as inferior beings.

Fenny

The only way to bring civility back to flying is to have zero tolerance for drunken brawling and causing a flight to be delayed or diverted. As for clothing, passengers are required to check in hours before a flight and sit in uncomfortable seats. Comfortable clothes that can be easily washed are a must. You can tell that whoever this bloke who wants us all to dress up is, has a private driver and never travels anything other than first class.

Dave27

Pyjamas, shorts, crew-necks, clogs, hair curlers are home-wear and look disgraceful in multi-million-pound planes. Do have some sense of decorum and respect for yourselves, for others, and for the airline’s image. Image counts more than you think. Learn to be proud of yourself!

Citizen Five

I don’t really like dress codes. Even if they sound OK on the surface, they are very hard to write and follow uniformly. But it would be nice if people tried a little harder and at least made sure they weren’t 24 hours or more away from the last shower before they hop into the cigar tube in close quarters with their fellow travellers.

If they want a return to the golden age, they can start by removing first class. It’s the same with everything, from healthcare to food – as soon as a first class emerges, everything else deteriorates. A major airline tried restricting access to cattle class from first class, as is the way in reverse. They were inundated with complaints. It seems it’s not enough to be sitting up front. You need to go have a look at the suffering cattle to feel really good about yourself.

Inkling

I’d prefer to be comfortable over fashionable.

Especially when you need to get to the airport two to three hours ahead and sit in a cramped seat for however many hours.

Anonymous

I just don’t fly anymore unless I absolutely have to, in which case I’ll fly business so I get treated a bit like a human being. I only go abroad every five years or so, but it’s worth it.

Louisa

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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