Should airlines be allowed to tell passengers how dress? That’s the hot question after Qantas announced tighter dress codes at its lounges.
The ‘Flying Kangaroo’ said commencing on 1 April, passengers entering the Qantas Club and Qantas Business Lounges will be required to follow smart casual dress codes.
‘Smart casual’ means no singlets, rubber thongs or clothing with offensive slogans.
The airline said passengers will receive a friendly reminder about the dress code, which will be enforced at Qantas’ Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide lounges.
To prepare for their next lounge visit, passengers can purchase new threads via Qantas’ Online Mall, which has expanded with four additional department stores, seven fashion retailers and two electronic outfits.
The decision came after an online poll showed 84 percent of Qantas customers were in favour of tighter restrictions.
A Qantas spokesperson said currently the majority of members meet the required guidelines, but customer feedback found more customers want to see the ‘smart casual’ guidelines apply to everyone.
“The dress guidelines for our lounges are the same as most restaurants and clubs.”
Qantas spokesperson
A number of other airlines, including Virgin Australia also require their passengers to meet a minimum dress standard of ‘smart casual’ at all times.
Passengers have had mixed responses to Qantas’ decision, with some in favour while others see it as a form of control.
One Twitter user congratulated Qantas on the initiative:
Thumbs up to Qantas for taking a stand with the dress code in their transit lounges. It is time for travellers to smarten up.
— At Home in Perth WA (@RMKDirectories) February 19, 2015
Another expressed much appreciation for tighter dress codes.
Gotta love Qantas for enforcing dress code in the lounges! http://t.co/WRdKiWxtCQ — Steve (@totvl) February 18, 2015
Then there’s the social media user that came back at the airline, suggesting it ‘smarten up’ its own staff first.
Read Qantas are going to apply dress code to it’s business lounge maybe need to start closer to home and smarten up their own staff first
— Maureen Pratten (@MaureenPratten) February 17, 2015
And the one that dared other airlines to step up and follow suit.
@alert5 @theage Would #BritishAirways dare to follow Qantas example over dress code for passengers?
— Tim Huxley (@DrTimHuxley) February 17, 2015