Federal transportation officials want people to dress better for flights

The Department of Transportation wants air travelers to dress better this holiday season, be more courteous and assist people who need help with luggage.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy launched the “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You” campaign, calling on passengers to help the elderly and pregnant with luggage, say thanks to flight attendants and other personnel, keep their kids in line and dress better.

Federal transportation officials asked for travelers to change their ways in light of a 400% jump in disruptive or violent in-flight outbursts by passengers since 2019, with twice as many unruly passenger events happening in 2024 as compared to 2019. There have been 13,800 such incidents since 2021, officials said.

The pandemic travel period was particularly bad; there was a 600% rise in unruly passenger reports between 2020 and 2021, and 20% of all flight attendants said they experienced “physical incidents” in 2021, the Department of Transportation said.

“You have brawls at the baggage claim, you have passengers berating gate agents; we have unruly passengers on airplanes. People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly!” Mr. Duffy recently told Fox Business.

Neither the Department of Transportation nor Mr. Duffy specified what types of clothing they want people to avoid or what clothes people should be wearing to the airport.

“The campaign is intended to jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel. This won’t just make the travel experience better for the flying public – it will ensure the safety of passengers, gate workers, flight attendants, and pilots,” the Department of Transportation said.