An Australian woman has slammed Jetstar, a local budget airline, accusing them of “slut shaming” her then offering her a $35 voucher instead of an apology.
Shoshana Strykert, 28, said she was left feeling humiliated and embarrassed on Friday after she booked a last-minute flight with Jetstar to visit her sick mother in the hospital.
“When I got onto the plane … tired and stress out … the flight attendant told me that what I was wearing was inappropriate,” Strykert wrote in an open letter to Jetstar on Facebook.
The 28-year-old business owner was dressed in a black, cropped singlet, loose, beige pants and a pair of sandals.
Strykert said the flight attendant proceeded to ask her, “do you see any men walking around with their shirts off?”
The Jetstar attendant then told Strykert she would have to put on a T-shirt on or she would be forced to give her a blanket “to cover up.”
“Everybody on the plane was looking at me I was so embarrassed and shocked,” Strykert said.
“A woman sitting behind me felt sorry for me so she offered me her jacket.”
Strykert reported the incident to Jetstar the next day but said their response made matters worse.
In a letter written to Strykert, Jetstar offered her a $35 voucher to help “restore her faith” in the airline.
“You have every right to expect polite, friendly and professional service, whenever you fly with us and I apologize if this was not your experience,” a Jetstar customer care spokesman said.
The letter and voucher didn’t sit well with Strykert, who lashed out at the company’s response on Facebook.
“Thank you Jetstar, for slut-shaming me and then offering me this in return. I’m so disgusted,” she wrote.
“My outfit was beyond casual … There’s really no excuse for what she did.”
Jetstar called Strykert after her letter attracted attention on social media.
“We’ve called Strykert to better understand the situation and apologize if she felt that she was treated unfairly by our staff,” a Jetstar spokesman told News.com.au.
“We are investigating what happened to find out if the situation could have been handled differently and have passed Ms. Strykert’s feedback to our teams.
“We’re sorry that this interaction spoiled Ms. Strykert’s journey and have provided a travel voucher as a gesture of good will.”
But this isn’t the first time Jetstar has found itself in hot water for reportedly commenting on women’s outfits.
In August, Australian fitness blogger Ashy Bines also took to social media to lash one of the airline’s flight attendants for reportedly calling her outfit “inappropriate.”
Bines was wearing activewear when the Jetstar attendant told her she wasn’t dressed well enough for business class.
“Not to brag, but I do fly Business Class quite often and I always wear my activewear,” Bines wrote on Snapchat.
“If there is a dress code, which I’ve looked and I can’t seem to find one for Jetstar. And going to and from Bali … maybe if it was Emirates going to London I would understand a bit more.
“(It was) how rude she was, how she looked at me, how she rolled her eyes, how it was in front of other people in Business Class,” she said.
