U.S.Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy just announced a fund to improve air travel conditions for families. The “Make America Air Family Friendly Again” initiative sees the White House increase family resources both at the terminal and onboard flights.
A press release this week outlined the plan. Citing several areas in need of improvement, the statement confirmed “the Trump Administration is committed to making every stage of the travel journey more seamless.” A war chest of $1 billion will be used to incentivize a better experience for U.S. families.
More Fun and Healthier Food
The money will go toward more children’s recreation areas and sensory rooms for special needs, mothers’ rooms and nursing pods, and family-only security screening lanes. What’s more, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has his eyes on improving airport and flight nutrition.
“Everyone who passes through an airport in this country should have access to fresh, whole foods,” said Kennedy Jr. He added that the initiative will work toward a scenario wherein “healthy eating is part of daily life — travel days included.”
Your New Golden Age of Travel
However, while making air travel more pragmatic for families will strike a chord with parents, it’s another announcement that has provoked more contention. The campaign in question kicked off the whole conversation. Labeled “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You,” Secretary Duffy’s November publication was part presentation, part appeal.
Citing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data, the announcement shared some harsh truths for American air travel. “Since 2019, the FAA has seen a 400%â¯increase of in-flight outbursts — ranging from disruptive behavior to outright violence,” it stated.
The rap sheet of documented issues illustrates the magnitude of the problem. For example, 13,800 “unruly passenger incidents” have been recorded since 2021, leading to 20% of flight attendants being assaulted. However, the next part of this reads more like a plea to the common traveler to simply up their game.
It Starts at the Top
“Are you helping a pregnant woman or the elderly with placing their bags in the overhead bin?” he asks. “Are you keeping control of your children and helping them through the airport?” The latter request shows that even though families do need more help, they are not beyond reproach.
For many, this news may be long overdue. Any online research on air rage and bizarre passenger behavior might persuade those undecided about the state of air travel. Fighting, poor sitting etiquette, and staff abuse are now regular features on some Americans’ average journey.
Daytime Bedtime
Somehow, one of the questions presented in Secretary Duffy’s statement has caused more umbrage than anything. “I would encourage people to maybe dress a little better, which encourages us to maybe behave all a little better,” Duffy said in his address. “Let’s try not to wear slippers and pajamas as we come to the airport.”
Indeed, multiple outlets report that passengers are now making a point of checking in decked out in their finest slumber garments. This act of aesthetic defiance gets a review in a recent op-ed by Hannah Sampson of The Washington Post.
The Pajama Rebellion
The French Revolution had the Sans-Culottes (without knee-breeches) movement, and the Suffragettes wore all-white to stand out. Sampson’s hypothesis: pajamas are the new choice for airport rebels. Somewhat predictably, the movement has gained momentum, extending to some famous commentary.
Comedienne Michelle Wolf shared a video clip on Instagram to address the transport secretary’s pledge. “You know what bro? You’re right,” she began sarcastically. “I should wear my nicest suit so I can sit in someone else’s Biscoff crumbs.” Some may argue she has a point.
Meanwhile, longtime fashionista and style journalist Lauren Exersky contrasted in her outlook. “I’m not understanding this appeal of wearing pajamas on an airplane,” she says in a New York Post clip. She goes on to compare wearing pajamas on planes to doing so at the opera. “Everybody, let’s have a little respect for ourselves and each other.”
Just Act Nice
FlightRight’s Oskar de Felice, listed as an air passenger rights expert, lays down the law on how to act, dress, and treat others on a flight. He lists comprehensive reasons air travel can become a tiresome experience for all. These criteria range from kicking the seat in front to blocking the aisle, and of course, “excessive alcohol consumption.”
It is all a far cry from the real golden age of air travel in the ’50s: an era when flights were only for affluent and impeccably behaved tourists. Obviously, we can have rose-tinted glasses looking back at the dawn of any industry.
A Lost Era Makes Way for the New
Yet, a 2022 CNN article paints a picture of how flights in the ’50s were renowned for comfort and luxury, as they had to compete with opulent cruise liners. Passengers wore their finest threads, enjoyed luxury dining, and recreated the finest hotels at 30,000 feet.
One can only imagine what the reaction might have been seeing young travelers in sliders, tube socks, and onesies boarding the plane carrying their plushy toy and neck pillow. Perhaps most crucially of all, the golden-agers didn’t have to watch confrontations about leaning back seats.
Maybe once all air passengers can agree on this contestable fixture of the air travel dialogue, travel’s golden age can officially begin.
