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U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has urged air travelers to dress better and be more civilized, in a move that many Americans believe has struck a nerve. Air travel is even more frustrating than ever before.
Ahead of what is expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel season in 15 years, Duffy last week launched a campaign called “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You,” in which he looked back to the 1950s and 1960s and called for a return to civility and class in air travel.
But with air traffic controllers still short-staffed and passengers regularly facing flight delays, social media users and aviation experts alike said Tamiflu missed the point.
Video ads for the Department of Transportation campaign juxtapose old footage of smiling airport workers and orderly passengers with modern social media videos of people fighting on planes, putting their bare feet on seats and engaging in other disruptive behavior.
“Courtesy doesn’t stop at the door. Things are not what they used to be,” Duffy interjected. “Let’s restore civility and courtesy. Ask yourself, are you helping a pregnant woman put her bag in the overhead bin? Are you dressing respectfully?”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts that this week will be the busiest Thanksgiving travel season in 15 years – with more than 52,000 flights on November 25 alone.
Aviation experts said Tamiflu’s message would not have much impact on the atmosphere on flights.
Scott Keyes, an air travel expert and founder of flight deals website Going.com, told the BBC that while asking everyone to be nice to each other sounds great, in terms of the actual effect of the message, “you might as well ask a wall to start printing money for you”.
“Very few people board a plane with the desire to start a fight with another passenger,” Mr. Case said. Once they reach the level of excitement where they start a fight with a flight attendant or passenger, they are less likely to remember Duffy’s words or calm down, he said.
The underlying problem, he believes, is that people let their tempers get the better of them, and he sees this as a growing problem across society, not just on airplanes and not just in the United States.
Since the Secretary of State began posting about the campaign on X, some of his subsequent posts have been flooded with thousands of comments critical of Damiflu’s message.
“If you want us to be polite people at airports, stop treating us like cattle,” one
Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and president of Atmospheric Research Group, told the BBC that while Duffy made the point that thoughtfulness was important, his call to dress smarter would not change anything.
“You can wear black tie and still be a jerk; you can also wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt and be the most considerate person in the world. Clothes don’t define a person in this case,” Mr. Harteveldt said.
Some commenters on the Tamiflu
“Tell you what,” one X user commented. “You make the plane take off on time and we don’t get dressed and spend the night in the damn airport.”
Another wrote: “Can I get my legroom back?”
One X user, who has nearly 500,000 followers, posted: “Duffy is absolutely right…but the decline of our travel attire is also a reflection of the way airlines treat us. Cow boarding, cramped seats, budget-conscious drink costs, and generally miserable.”
Echoing a point made by many social media users, Mr Harteveldt said airlines also bear some responsibility for bad behavior by passengers because their “economy class cabins are so unpleasant and physically uncomfortable” and naturally put passengers in a bad mood.
Combined with minimal flight attendant staffing, minimal in-flight amenities and airlines embracing a pay-as-you-go business model, “you’re not going to see a smile when people walk off the aerobridge to the plane,” he said.
Still, others praised the Secretary of State’s core message of respect and kindness, with one commenting: “I will do my small part to spread civility in my own life.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) says the campaign is about more than just saying “please” and “thank you,” but also aims to reduce violent and disruptive incidents on airplanes and airports.
The agency said there has been a 400% increase in in-flight incidents since 2019, including unruly behavior and violent attacks. Since 2021, the department has recorded 13,800 incidents of unruly passengers, while one in five flight attendants has experienced physical harm.
But experts dispute claims that the quality of air travel has declined.
Dan Bubb, an aviation historian and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told the BBC that while there had been an increase in incivility cases, the numbers were not statistically significant.
There are many more passengers and flights than ever before, Professor Babu said, making it difficult to compare aviation accidents today with those of past decades.
Mr. Case pointed out what he sees as another major problem with Duffy’s message: Air travel once brought with it many other problems that we no longer face today.
“It’s funny how bad air travel was back then,” Mr Case said.
Flying is far less safe, he said, noting that planes crash and are hijacked more frequently. Air tickets are also much more expensive relative to income. Other drawbacks include: cabins filled with cigarette smoke, flight attendants facing rampant sexism and strict physical requirements.
Mr. Case believes the FAA and Department of Transportation can play a greater role in easing passenger stress by pushing airlines to minimize the number of delays and cancellations.
Professor Babu said it would also help “provide passengers with more physical space in terms of seat size and legroom, include food and beverage services in the ticket price, reduce alcohol consumption, make airport security less stressful, make airport parking easier and expand boarding area space at airport gates”.
He added that we still need to encourage passengers to be polite to cabin crew and each other.
