U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has called on travelers to exhibit “civility in manners” in a video outlining how the United States can return to the “Golden Era” of travel.
Duffy Says Poor Passenger Behavior Is Making Air Travel Worse, Calls For Civility And Manners
Duffy says it is not your imagination that flying has become more uncivilized. In a post on X, he cited a 400% rise in outbursts on planes since 2019, a doubling of unruly passenger events, and surveys showing that one in five flight attendants has experienced a physical incident at work. His message was simple: the Golden Age of Travel begins with restoring civility, and that begins with you.
(If you watch the video above, I love that it calls out people with bare feet! He forgot to add fake service dogs)
He asks:
- “Are you helping a pregnant woman put her bag in the overhead bin?”
- “Are you dressing with respect?”
- “Are you keeping control of your children?”
- “Are you saying thank you to your flight attendants and pilots?”
- “Are you saying please and thank you in general?”
I fully agree with his call to treat others the way we want to be treated, with civility and respect. But his comment also raises a practical question. Beyond reminding people to behave, what can the federal government actually do to make air travel feel better again? Is that even the proper role of government?
Duffy has not yet offered a specific policy proposal tied to this message, but his department already oversees several tools that could be sharpened.
What He Might Be Pointing Toward
1. Stricter enforcement against unruly passengers
The FAA already has a “zero-tolerance” policy, at least on paper, and routinely issues large civil penalties against disruptive passengers. Duffy’s emphasis on physical incidents involving flight attendants could signal support for even faster penalties, more lifetime bans, or closer coordination between airlines and law enforcement. That’s not so straightforward…
> Read More: Delta’s No-Fly List, Good Intentions, Bad Idea
2. Better support and protection for cabin crew
With one in five flight attendants reporting physical incidents, the DOT could push for improved training, reporting systems, or mental health resources for crew. It could also revisit how cases are referred to federal prosecutors and hopefully empower FAs to stop this sort of thing before it even starts.
3. Cabin experience improvements
Although Duffy did not say this directly, passenger frustration is often tied to crowding, delays, schedule disruptions, and poor communication. His broader rhetoric about restoring a Golden Age must point toward more investment in ATC modernization, better staffing stability, and clearer airline accountability rules (though the Trump Administration just jettisoned Biden-era rules on compensation for delays and cancellations).
4. A public messaging campaign
His post reads like the beginning of a behavioral campaign aimed at the traveling public. Encouraging basic courtesy, patience, and adherence to crew instructions may sound quaint, but it can also reduce the number of flights diverted or delayed due to passenger misconduct…I’m not opposed to it.
5. A broader cultural appeal
Framing civility as a shared responsibility suggests that the secretary sees this as partly a cultural problem rather than only an aviation policy issue. The tweet positions politeness and good conduct as the foundation for restoring the travel experience. May I suggest that politeness and good conduct should start from the top down?
6. Stop selling booze at airports and on airplanes?
I jest…it’s too much of a money maker.
But What Does “Golden Age” Really Mean?
For some, the phrase evokes the mid 20th century era of jet travel, when passengers dressed formally, cabins were spacious, and flying felt glamorous. Modern air travel will never look like that again. Planes are fuller, security requirements are stricter, and the economics of flying depend on high density. It’s not comfortable anymore, but it certainly is cheap!
If Duffy is serious about making travel feel better, the work will involve infrastructure, staffing, passenger behavior, and airline accountability. That is a much larger project than calling for manners, though calling for manners is indeed a great place to start.
CONCLUSION
The transportation secretary believes air travel has become less civilized and is urging Americans to embrace courtesy again. Whether this marks the start of a larger policy initiative remains unclear, but the challenges he cites are real. Improving air travel will require more than polite passengers, though. It will require better staffing, more reliable operations, and consistent enforcement against unruly behavior. If a “Golden Age of Travel” is to return, it will take more than a slogan, but at least the conversation has begun…
You cannot fix air travel in isolation. Generally speaking everything has become less civil as policies favor the ‘every man for himself’ mentality over the idea of the communal good. Social media and internet culture in general only serve to magnify this issue. I am not sure there is anyway back short of a complete implosion.
When it comes to decline of civil society , the current administration should not be throwing stones in glasshouses
When air fares dropped to Greyhound fares…..that was the start
That’s like the pot calling the kettle black. The fact that the president is pardoning uncivilized people everyday and allowing “pay for play”/”pay for access” shows that uncivilized behavior starts at the top. You can steal, rob, not pay your workers, file bankruptcy multiple times, try to do a political coup in 2020, have a jury find in a civil trial that you sexually assault someone, and illegally fire numerous government employees because, “eh, government too big” as long as you are/get elected the president.
Yeah. None of that happen under the last administration.
lol yeah someone working for Donald Trump is lecturing the flying public about civility
I think you were talking about the last 4 years under Joe and Comma-La!!!!
Forget about the Golden Age. That unfortunately ended on 09/11/2001. I agree with most everything he shared on his post but I think he got the date wrong. These problems have started way before 2019. After 09/11, travel by air became a hassle vs a pleasure. Add to that the immense power given to airline employees to determine if you are an uncivilized passenger. Yes, there are the easy ones that should be banned from ever stepping on an airport again but we all know how FAs and GAs have simply decide to make passenger’s lives miserable just because they can. So, it is mixed bag. Passengers are for sure a big problems but unless they find a balanced way to take power away from uncivilized airline employees, you won’t solve the problem.
Nah, commercial air travel in the forward cabin, especially lie-flat business class, is far better in 2025 than 2000, so I reject your false populist nostalgia nonsense.
Let me add some additional ones:
* Are you stealing somebody else’s seat because you didn’t plan properly? Aside to Matthew: THANK YOU for being somebody who plans accordingly. Specifically, the July 21, 2025 article where you state, “And I say that as a frequent traveler with two young children.”
* Is an FA lying that you kept taking pictures after she said to stop?
* Were you forced to gate check your carry on because “there is no more overhead space available” — only to find there is still 50% of overhead space available?
* Frontier threatened a pax with arrest if she didn’t deboard. That is a violation of the Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Chapter II Subchapter A Part 250.7 She ended up missing a wedding due to Frontier’s illegal actions.
Duffy should go back to The Real World…
What he’s whining about is what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real
Ahh, yes, he’s the equivalent of those ‘be nice’ bumper stickers… so helpful.
The “Golden Age Of Air Travel” will never return. It was just another memorable era on our planet… However, self-control, empathy, patience, courtesy, and goodwill should always guide air travelers. Safe and pleasant flights to everyone!
The golden age may definitely return if air travel becomes really expensive and a lot less accessible for the general public, for whatever reason(s). I don’t advocate for that, but I think the correlation between the degradation we’re seeing and flying becoming way cheaper than before is real.
Duffy nailed it. But people don’t want to look in the mirror and realize they are the problem.
On a side note, people must have cancelled some flights during the shutdown because my upgrades cleared this past week and upcoming later this week at a rate not seen in years on routes usually impossible to clear.
Re: “people don’t want to look in the mirror and realize they are the problem.”, outstanding, another great self-own projection from Douchebag Dave Edwards, the most vile unrespectful repulsive person or being in the history of FF blog commenters, just as vile and repulsive as his hero. Douchebag Dave Edwards, because you’re obviously too stupid to understand, YOUR behavior (and others of your ilk) IS the PROBLEM. Douchebag, how have your investments been doing the past few weeks, more winning? Douchbag-in-Chief calling a female reporter “piggy”, more winning?
I too would love to see greater civility in air travel, but it seems odd that the Secretary didn’t also call out his own employees: TSA agents, for this. This is an actual area of Federal jurisdiction and control that he could improve with better standards, training and cultural improvement. He could have also called out airline frontline staff at the gates, check-in and in the air. Saying please and thank you is for customer service staff as much as it is for the passengers, and you can’t convince me that customer service hasn’t deteriorated over the years and contributed to the worsening of the culture of air travel in general.
Oh hello Piggy. Better talk to your boss Duffy. That happened on AF1 Friday, delivered by our Civility Genius.
Exactly. you want civility? Start inspiring it. “Quiet Piggy” is not the way.
These MAGA people are truly unreal.
Just spent three weeks traveling around southern Africa, mostly on Airlink. The travel was painless compared to travel in the US. Duffy is not wrong.
DiD yOu EvEn SaY tHaNk You??!!1
Why aren’t you wearing a suit??
I agree with the sentiment. I don’t agree with the messenger being sent out to broadcast these goals. Anyone representing this administration does not have any sense of decency.
Says the guy with the nastiest uncivil boss of all time.
Secretary Duffy says the ‘right thing’ here, but he’s the worst possible messenger as this administration is peak hypocrite. Literally, a week ago, during the shutdown, Duffy was withholding vital information, and punishing ‘blue cities’ airports.
As I said at VFTW, these pronouncements are yet another ‘culture war’ distraction from all the real problems with corruption, economic disparity, lack of affordability, no new jobs, and a failure to invest in people, technology, and infrastructure, all of which is what the DOT (and this government) should be focused on.
Of course. The 24 hour outrage cycle perpetuated by Fox News and the rest have nothing to do with this.
Fu-k Duffy
I was about to comment that he forgot to mention fraudulent “service” dogs but Mr. Klint addressed it! Bravo.