German fitness influencer Edda Elisa Pilz says she was prevented from boarding a Lufthansa flight after airline staff allegedly told her she was 'naked' because of her gym outfit and demanded she cover up before she could travel.
Pilz, 24, shared an emotional video on Instagram after the incident, saying she was stopped at the boarding gate while travelling from Berlin to Austria during a summer heatwave, with temperatures reaching around 30C.
The influencer, who has more than 550,000 Instagram followers and a similarly large audience on TikTok, said she was wearing a matching sports bra-style crop top and fitted cycling shorts when the confrontation began.
'You Cannot Board Like That'
According to Pilz, the problem started as she handed over her boarding pass.
'The woman looked at me and said, 'You cannot board like that,'' Pilz recalled in the video, translated from German.
When she asked why, the employee allegedly replied: 'You're not wearing anything. You're naked.'
Pilz said she was stunned by both the comments and the employee's manner.
'I asked, 'What am I supposed to put on? It is clothing,'' she said, adding that she had never heard of Lufthansa enforcing a dress code for passengers.
Pilz claimed the employee insisted her gym outfit was 'not normal clothing' and instructed her to put something over it before she would be allowed onto the aircraft. She said she complied by putting on a jacket, but that was still not enough.
According to Pilz, she was then told she had to zip the jacket up completely before she could continue through the gate. The influencer also alleged that the employee blamed her for delaying the flight.
'Because of you, we are now delayed. Because of you, the whole flight is delayed,' the staff member allegedly told her.
Pilz disputed that claim, saying she had only asked for an explanation after being stopped unexpectedly.
'I Can Accept Rules'
While Pilz questioned whether Lufthansa has an official clothing policy, she stressed that her biggest concern was how she said she was treated during the encounter.
'I can accept rules,' she said. 'But the attitude was unacceptable.'
She also claimed she noticed male passengers wearing shorts boarding the same flight without being challenged, leading her to question whether the standards were applied equally.
Ending her video, Pilz directly asked Lufthansa whether it supports the customer service she experienced and said she was waiting for an official response from the airline.
Lufthansa Policy and Online Reaction
Lufthansa's published General Conditions of Carriage do not include a specific dress code for passengers.
The airline states that it may refuse transport in certain circumstances, including when a passenger's behaviour could affect the safety, security, health or wellbeing of others, or for operational reasons. However, the policy does not specifically mention athletic clothing or set minimum clothing requirements.
Pilz's account has since attracted widespread attention online, with the video circulating across Instagram, TikTok and X. The incident prompted mixed reactions, with some users arguing airlines should be free to set standards of dress, while others criticised the alleged treatment of the influencer, saying she should not have been publicly embarrassed over clothing she considered suitable for the hot weather.
Lufthansa said it takes reports such as Pilz's seriously and has launched an internal review into the incident. The airline added that it could not comment on the specific case or the employees involved because of privacy obligations.
