As Europe and the United Kingdom swelter through another gruelling heat wave that has seen authorities across the continent declare health emergencies due to the high temperatures, British Airways has decided it’s time to reconsider its ban on staff passengers travelling on free and deeply discounted tickets wearing shorts on board its planes.
Yes, that’s right. Until now, employees who were using their so-called ‘non-rev’ benefits to fly standby on a British Airways plane were not allowed to wear shorts, even though no such rule exists for normal fare-paying passengers.
The Heathrow-based airline doesn’t have a formal dress code for regular customers, but ‘rebate passengers,’ as British Airways describes them, have long had to comply with a long and strictly enforced list of dress and grooming standards if they are to stand any chance of getting on board.
The dress code urges employee standby passengers to “be appropriately dressed and well-groomed,” and to “use their best judgment when deciding what to wear for their journey.” The policy goes on to implore staff passengers to “please think of our fare-paying customers and show sensitivity towards them.”
British Airways last amended its dress code for staff travelers in 2018, which, at the time, was seen as a major relaxation. Up to that point, staff travelers were expected to lean towards formal attire, with chinos, a button-down shirt, and smart dress shoes a must for male standby passengers.
Female employees were encouraged to wear dresses or smart trousers, along with closed footwear.
Announcing the change at the time, British Airways said: “Today’s customers often have a more relaxed approach to their own dress, and it’s fair that BA colleagues should feel relaxed too.”
That meant that standby passengers could now wear jeans, t-shirts, and even casual shoes, although the list of banned clothing remained long:
- Overly revealing or sheer clothing, including bare midriffs
- Sportswear or Activewear
- Jeans with cut off/frayed hems or holes
- Beach clothing
- Flipflops or any V-style sandal
- Clothing with questionable or offensive wording or graphics
- Shorts of any description (except for children)
But with temperatures expected to remain at 30°C+ (86°F) for at least the next week, British Airways has now amended its staff travel dress code.
As of July 8, employees are allowed to wear shorts, but not just any kind of shorts. They must be smart, tailored, and “of an appropriate length.” Sports shorts, cargo shorts, and any kind of beach-style shorts remain strictly forbidden.
In the past, the ban on shorts has been rigorously enforced. In July 2025, for example, a British Airways passenger in its Club World Business Class recounted seeing two passengers being told to leave the plane because they were wearing shorts.
The man thought he was also at risk of being downgraded or even booted off the plane because he, too, was wearing shorts. It later transpired that he had nothing to worry about. His two seatmates had been singled out because they were staff travelers on standby.
How does British Airways’ non-rev dress code policy compare with other airlines?
While allowing staff passengers to wear shorts might be a big change for British Airways, shorts have long been allowed at many other airlines.
United Airlines allows non-rev passengers to wear any kind of shorts as long as they are no more than three inches above the knee when standing up. Meanwhile, American Airlines is even more generous, with any kind of shorts allowed as long as they are “neat and clean.”
There are, though, some airlines that still have pretty strict dress codes for staff passengers. German flag carrier Lufthansa not only bans shorts, but also t-shirts, sweat-shirts, and “similar extremes of casual wear.”
Qatar Airways was once considered to have one of the strictest staff dress codes, but even here, standards have been relaxed in recent years. Smart jeans are now considered acceptable, along with polo shirts and collarless plain t-shirts. Hats of any kind, however, remain completely off limits.
