Reached by phone, Stevens told io9 that a United representative first raised concerns when she was preparing to board flight 5183 from Albany to Chicago. Stevens told me that shes flown in this outfit before but turned the shirt inside out. She was then told that the hat was a concern as well. She was allowed to board the plane but had a tense exchange with an attendant who asked her to place her bag under the seat in front of her. I didnt know if I was going to be staying on the plane or not and I said that, she told me. I was grumbling because I was frustrated.
Stevens then told me that the exchange with the flight attendant was given as the reason that she was ejected from the flight. Stevens says that she received a direct message from the official United account on Twitter and returned to the service counter at the gate under the assumption that shed be getting booked on the next flight. However, the United employees that Stevens was dealing with retreated to an employees-only area and Stevens told me that shes been waiting with no acknowledgment for more than two hours. Weve reached out to United for comment and will update if they reply.
