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DOT Promotes Holiday Air-Travel Civility, Urging Flyers To Dress With Respect

Officials point to a sharp post-2019 rise in unruly incidents to justify the holiday-timed push.

Overview

  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is promoting “The Golden Age of Travel Starts With You” and asked travelers to skip slippers and pajamas at airports.
  • The campaign’s five-question checklist urges passengers to help others, dress respectfully, supervise children, and thank flight crews.
  • An accompanying PSA leans on 1950s–60s imagery of polished air travel and juxtaposes it with modern footage of unruly behavior.
  • DOT/FAA figures reference a roughly 400% surge in in-flight disturbances since 2019, about 13,800 reports since 2021, and 1,431 cases logged so far in 2025.
  • The FAA says it is ready for heavy Thanksgiving traffic and issued $10,000 bonuses to 776 controllers and technicians, as experts and travelers question whether attire-focused messaging will meaningfully improve behavior.