He wants fliers to dress better and be nice. I laughed when I first saw that but maybe he is right, especially the part about being nice. The stereotype is Americans are ruder and not as patient as British and Canadians. I don’t know if that is true but maybe if we were more polite with each other it would help with travel problems. Somethings I see Americans do in crowds are listening to headphones loud enough for others to hear, talking on their cell phone loud enough for others to hear, bumping into others, cutting in line, swearing, not giving up seats for elderly or disabled, etc.
“Sean Duffy says people can make air travel better for the holidays if they don’t wear PJs” https://tinyurl.com/5eaf7ydw
“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says people need to be more civilized while flying. That means dressing better and being nicer at the airport over the holiday season, Duffy said. Getting to the airport in a “good mood” will make the experience better for fliers and staff alike, he said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he wants to improve holiday travel, and people can help by dressing up and being courteous…And so we want to push people, as we come into a really busy travel season: Help people out, be in a good mood, dress up, bring civility back to travel,” he said".
It’s actually one thing (maybe the only thing) this administration said I could get behind.
Except for the fact of 1) too small seats 2) TSA intrusive searches 3)no in flight amenities/food 4) four hour delays locked in a plane with no working bathrooms … in other words, the reasons people are crabby and rude is not entirely on them. Modern airline travel dehumanizes everyone, so it’s a natural reaction to “I got mine!” back at the system.
I admit I have no solution to the problem, thought,
Good points. American flyers have reasons to be in bad moods. Is flying much better in other countries? I don’t fly enough to say. I presumed seating was the same. Do they have better food and are on time more often?
There’s a small part of what Duffy said that I agree with , which is the part about politeness. But the clothing - I really couldn’t care less if people are wearing pajamas - most of the pajamas I’ve seen in public cover at least as much as a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Generally speaking, the only way you can tell it’s pajamas is the fabric, print or something printed on it , like " Is there life before coffee" - and I don’t see a whole lot of difference between solid color yoga pants and printed pajama pants. If people are flying in bathing suits, I might think differently, but that isn’t what Duffy was talking about.
Not unique to US travelers. I see all of this to about the same overall degree in travelers in/from other countries, plus often less management of their children on the plane.
Comfortable clothes would indeed be good, but what would really make me happy for my flight is being given the opportunity to throw eggs at the pictures of Trump administration officials whenever and wherever I see them hanging in the airport.
It’s amusing that any member of this administration is calling for “courteous” behavior, given how little of that is being demonstrated by ICE, Border Patrol and especially the POTUS.
In keeping with Sean Duffy’s advisory, I plan to dress like this for my next 6 a.m. flight to Chicago.
We must acknowledge this and other important Trump administration contributions to our positive experiences in the friendly skies, along with eliminating compensation for long delays due to airlines’ screwups, air traffic controller shortages etc.
I’ll make a deal with Secretary Duffy, I’ll wear a clean, collared shirt, and say “please” and “thank you” if he’ll hire a thousand more air traffic controllers.
Giving “useless middle manager” vibes, the kind of man who thinks that if he wears a suit and tie every day then that will prove he’s valuable and smart and everyone will respect him. Even more so if he makes his underlings do the same. Actual work and contributions? Of secondary importance.
Noisy terminals with many unnecessary announcements and CNN or Fox News blaring from TVs every 10 yards. Just stopping that might go a long way to improving travelers’ moods.
