Air France Passenger Takes Off Pants on Flight

We've flown Air France and we took the subways fairly extensively in Paris. I didn't see anybody in an unusual state of undress and I'd expect the same type of decorum on an airplane. I don't think we can chalk this up to being a "French" thing. I think the guy was just boorish or maybe even a bit deranged. :rolleyes1
and yet---people do things differently on long distance overnight travel than on subways. And I certainly did not indicate this is the norm, just that the level of upset over it that would reach to expecting that a flight attendant could and should say something to the passenger or require him to change attire is possibly also somewhat culturally more so for North Americans than French (though, based on the undies he was wearing and having shopped for men'S underthings in both Germany and France as well as the USA in reent years--I am willing to bet Boxer Boy is American)

Again, I am not saying I know how a French person would feel, and I suspect reactins would vary, just as they do among Americans, but general upset over bodies IS less of a thing in France, and some items talked about on this thread as perfectly acceptable (yoga pants) would be far less commontly worn in public there than in the US and maybe not so acceptable either.

Yet again, I am not saying Boxer Boy was totally fine and should be emulated by all---but I am saying the FA was totally reasonable to stay out of it.
 
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and yet---people do things differently on long distance overnight travel than on subways. And I certainly did not indicate this is the norm, just that the level of upset over it that would reach to expecting that a flight attendant could and should say somehing to the passenger or requirw him to change attire is possibly also somewhat culturally more so for North Americans than French (though, based on the undies he was wearing and having shopped for men'S underthings in both Germany and France as well as the USA in reent years--I am willing to bet Boxer Boy is American)

Again, I am not saying I know how a French person would feel, and I suspect reactins would vary, just as they do among Americans, but general upset over bodies IS less of a thing in France, and some items talked about on this thread as perfectly acceptable (yoga pants) would be far less commontly worn in public there than in the US and maybe not so acceptble either.

Yet again, I am not saying Boxer Boy was totally fine and should be emulated by all---bu I am saying the FA was totally reasonable to stay out of it.
Understood - being as we are discussing a country where it's actually illegal to be too covered up...nude on a beach is fine but burkinis are not. :rolleyes1 And on a more amusing note, when we visited what they consider a "beach" in Marsaille, the shocking thing wasn't that people were clothed or unclothed, it was that they were all laying out on a bed of rocks - ouch!! :rotfl:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/french-police-make-woman-remove-burkini-on-nice-beach
 


May I ask where you go to change? Are the washrooms in First or Business much larger than in Coach? It wouldn't be easy to strip down entirely and put pajamas on in one of those.

Depends on the airline/airplane. However, generally bigger than a US domestic plane washroom. Some (Lufthanasa) are great because they have a shelf that folds down, so lots of room to put things. I'm also not very big (barely 5'2") so that also makes things easier (my 6'5" colleague has trouble just washing his hands in many airplane bathrooms!). Not always the easiest thing to do, but not that bad (and, for me, worth it).

I'd also feel completely weird walking back through the cabin to my seat in jammies. Also, are the jammies yours to keep or are they re-used for future passengers like hotel bathrobes? :confused:
To be clear - we aren't talking a fleece onesie with bunny feet. Not something I'd wear in public, but not much different than sweats/yoga pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. And, yes, they are yours to keep. My own outfit is a pair of loose-fitting black cotton pants (thicker material and looser than most yoga pants) and and a long sleeved gray t-shirt).

And the slippers aren't Mikey heads either :)

When I fly long haul I don’t generally have plans except home-airport/flight-hotel so I’m not worried about my clothes. I just wear sweats on the plane and don’t worry about it. I do take my bra off because that’s relatively easy and so much more comfortable!

I'm often coming from a meeting/my office and/or going straight to a meeting/my office. Or, meeting up with colleagues at the airport (for example, I fly to Entebbe tomorrow and will meet with colleagues at the airport so that we can travel together to Kampala). Even if I weren't, I wouldn't wear sweats to/from/through the airport.

For the record, I'd still think it weird that a man was wearing only boxing shorts (probably not weird enough for me to ask the FA to do something about it, but weird nonetheless). I generally try to minimize bare skin (e.g. shorts and/or short sleeved shirts) when flying as I've had reactions to airline seats before (I assume from something they sprayed on them to make cleaning easier).
 
Ahem ...I don't want to sound presumptuous, but am I the only guy that doesn't wear anything under his boxers????

No, that was my point. People were comparing his boxers to shorts. I don't think that's a good comparison where cleanliness is concerned. I don't want to sit where someone has been sitting in nothing, but a pair of potentially dirty underwear.
 


Understood - being as we are discussing a country where it's actually illegal to be too covered up...nude on a beach is fine but burkinis are not. :rolleyes1 And on a more amusing note, when we visited what they consider a "beach" in Marsaille, the shocking thing wasn't that people were clothed or unclothed, it was that they were all laying out on a bed of rocks - ouch!! :rotfl:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/french-police-make-woman-remove-burkini-on-nice-beach
Oh gosh yes----we were on a cruise which stopped near Nice and took the train over just for the heck of it---hadn't really researched anything, but you always hear about the beaches of the French Rivera including in Nice, and we'd already been to the port town a few times, so bopped over and, like Marseilles, the "beach" was large stones. People were lying out sunbathing on stones (not one huge one that was flat to lie on which might be comforatable, mostly about the size of a tea sauer to a dinner plate) and all I could think was "really?!"
 
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...To be clear - we aren't talking a fleece onesie with bunny feet. Not something I'd wear in public, but not much different than sweats/yoga pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. And, yes, they are yours to keep. My own outfit is a pair of loose-fitting black cotton pants (thicker material and looser than most yoga pants) and and a long sleeved gray t-shirt).
Thanks. Not being a conventional pajama wearer myself, in my imagination all pajamas look like this:
mens-striped-pajamas-jan-de-luz-linens1.jpg
 
How could it be illegal to enforce dress codes?
Schools do it all the time. Over things way more ridiculous than you cant just wear your underwear.

Boxers may be similar to shorts, but they are in fact underwear.
This man didnt not come onto the plane in something people are debating whether they were shorts or boxers, he stood up and removed his clothing.

I find it very interesting that women receive all sorts of abuse for breastfeeding in public, but this man taking off his pants for no reason in a public places has many shrugging their shoulders and saying oh well

Does Air France have a published dress code? I can't find one. . . .

I am not sure why you brought breast feeding up. Has there been a semi recent incident in which Air France flight attendants asked a women not to breastfeed on a plane?
Or are you just commenting on the double standards in general---on that I totally agree, women are often expected to cover far more and it is ridiculous.

FWIW, I breast fed my kids whenever and whereever they were hungry, including MANY times on airplanes (we were not going to Europe back then so never Air France, lots of United and Aero Mexico, Southwest, Northwest....). At no time have I seen anyone on this thread, and certinaly not myself, suggest that it would have been acceptabel for anyone to tell a breast feeding parent not to.
 
:rotfl:I'm exactly the opposite - even if I changed into the fancy first-class jammies I'd still definitely keep my bra on.
And this goes bac to to each their own--I cannot sleep with a bra on---mine comes off for the overnight portion of any flight (as do my shoes---I bring slipper style socks to wear when not in my shoes and put shoes back on to go to the restroom---I see so many people in socks or barefeet in the lavatories, yuck, those floors are often wet and one has to woder with what, no thanks.
 
No, that was my point. People were comparing his boxers to shorts. I don't think that's a good comparison where cleanliness is concerned. I don't want to sit where someone has been sitting in nothing, but a pair of potentially dirty underwear.
But how many who are wearing shorts (or pants) are going "commando"?
 
I am not sure why you brought breast feeding up. Has there been a semi recent incident in which Air France flight attendants asked a women not to breastfeed on a plane?
Maybe this guy is doing a "reverse protest" and is trying to make a statement that if women can breastfeed in public, he should be able to run around in his boxers. :rolleyes1

Said as joke folks, don't get your boxers in an wad.
 
And what is the airline's dress code? I agree, if they have one, it should be followed and enforced, but is there one, and if so, what is it?

Good question, BTW. Is there a dress code on airlines? And, specifically, on Air France? I can't say I've even been in a position to worry about one, so I've never looked.
 
Good question, BTW. Is there a dress code on airlines? And, specifically, on Air France? I can't say I've even been in a position to worry about one, so I've never looked.

I've only run into this once and it was in 1994...

I flew from Toronto to Osaka to spend March break with a friend who was from Hiroshima. My mother used her miles to buy my ticket (I don't remember what the categories were back then, but she had high level frequent flyer status - which may have relevance). Anyway, I was flying by myself on the way home (friend was spending a few extra days) and I asked about a possible upgrade when I was at the gate (I figured it couldn't hurt). Turns out, I had been upgraded (see mom's status and also a not so great experience on the flight out) and should have been told at check-in (but wasn't). However...shock/horror - I was in jeans and jeans were not allowed in Business class (it was a two class plane). Cue many phone calls that I couldn't understand. They eventually let me take the upgrade. I got to my seat which was in the second Business class section (it was a 747, so the first section was in the "nose"). Only one other person was in that section with me - and me promptly moved up to the front section! I asked if had been offended by my jeans, but the FA said that, since it was a two-class (rather than three-class) flight, people often thought that the front section was better than the second section, which is why he moved. I was 15 and rarely traveled Business class (certainly not on such a long flight), so was perfectly happy in my inferior cabin (where I had three FAs to myself :)).

I asked the FA and the dress code was only for flights leaving Asian airports (doesn't exist anymore - at least not to the extend that jeans are not allowed).
 
And they are way more revealing than boxer shorts. If we have decided as a species that yoga pants are normal wear outside of the gym boxer shorts are fine in the same places.

First of all, my comment was meant tongue in cheek.

Secondly, all yoga pants are not created the same. But of course they are generally worn by females, and everybody knows simply the shape of a female is too much for public consumption. So it naturally follows that an item designed primarily for a woman to wear in a public gym is equally unsuited to be worn in public as something designed to be an undergarment and therefore not intended for public wearing at all. Can't believe that logic sailed right over my head for so long.
 
First of all, my comment was meant tongue in cheek.

Secondly, all yoga pants are not created the same. But of course they are generally worn by females, and everybody knows simply the shape of a female is too much for public consumption. So it naturally follows that an item designed primarily for a woman to wear in a public gym is equally unsuited to be worn in public as something designed to be an undergarment and therefore not intended for public wearing at all. Can't believe that logic sailed right over my head for so long.

There are only two logical arguments against boxers on a flight. One is that they are too revealing and the other that they are too thin. Yoga pants are both those things. If they are ok outside of their original intended purpose (yoga class) there is no logical reason boxer shorts can't be worn in the same scenarios.

I don't wear either but I also don't really care if anyone else chooses to wear either in public. One isn't any more or less appropriate than the other.
 

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