This garment didn’t embody the Spirit of the airline.
A Texas man has been ejected from a Spirit Airlines flight after wearing an “obscene” hoodie on board, as seen in a viral video.
“It caught me like totally by surprise,” John Garcia Jr., 43, told the San Antonio Express-News while recounting his surprise ejection. “Like, ‘Man, are you serious?’”
The incident reportedly occurred during a flight from Los Angeles to San Antonio, per the description on the clip, which was filmed by a fellow passenger and posted in the FB group 210 La Chismosa.
The father of four had reportedly worn a hooded black sweatshirt bearing the phrase “FVCK HATE WORLD TOUR,” which he purchased from the FWUH.com — an acronym for “FVCK WHAT U HEARD!”
The provocative fashion statement appeared to elicit strong reactions from Spirit staffers.
Garcia had reportedly been putting his luggage in the overhead bin, when a female flight attendant approached him and inquired if he was in the right seat, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The passenger confirmed it was his and the crew member walked away.
However, she returned several minutes later and allegedly ordered him to remove the hoodie because it displayed “obscene language.”
The Texan initially refused to remove the hoodie, whereupon the crew member threatened to alert the captain. She then returned with a male flight attendant and the duo gave the flighter an ultimatum: take off the sweatshirt or get off the flight.
When Garcia asked if his hoodie violated any Spirit policies, the flight attendant told him he’d have to take their word for it. Spirit Airlines’ contract of carriage states that passengers “may be required to leave an aircraft” if their “clothing is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature.”
Garcia finally capitulated to these inflight fashion police and reluctantly removed the inflammatory attire while still questioning the Spirit staffers, as seen in the video footage.
They told him Garcia could file a complaint and he asked for the names of the crew members and security personnel. The incident ended with the flyer being escorted from the plane.
The Texan has since booked another flight back to San Antonio, but it reportedly included a 12-hour layover.
Viewers overwhelmingly appeared to take his side.
The video’s uploader, Andrew Martin Hoel, dubbed the flight attendant a “Karen” — a pejorative term for an entitled woman who polices others’ behaviors — and claimed that she’d missed the message of the sweatshirt.
“What’s this world coming to.. his shirt literally is anti-hate and he got hated on,” he wrote. “Please share it so this guy can hopefully get the video of them blatantly violating his freedom of expression!”
“Some people are just wrong,” declared another. “I hope he sues the s–t out of Spirit.”
“But why was she mad?” fumed a third. “It said ‘FVCK HATE’ should we be promoting ppl TO HATE?”
According to the FWUH website, the clothing company doesn’t have any particular political message but aims “to fashionably poke FUN at Pop Culture, Current Events and other everyday ordinary B***-ISH!, while proudly boasting a BIG FAT middle finger to YOUR feelings!”
Spirit Airlines representatives have since addressed the incident in a statement.
“We want all our guests to feel welcome and have a great experience while traveling with us,” reps said “We are aware of the video, and our team is investigating.”
