U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy’s announcement of the new civility campaign, The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You, is a response to a real and troubling problem: the surge in unruly passenger behavior. Citing a 400% increase in in-flight outbursts since 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is clearly trying to address a crisis that has compromised the safety and sanity of both flight crews and the traveling public.
The campaign’s core message—a call for courtesy, respect for crews, and basic common sense—is well-intentioned. Who can argue against asking flyers to dress with respect, help a pregnant woman with her bag, or simply say thank you to a flight attendant? These are foundational principles of good citizenship, and they are desperately needed in the often-caustic environment of modern air travel.
However, labeling this effort the start of a Golden Age feels like a classic case of misplaced responsibility.
The Burden of Blame
The most significant flaw in the Golden Age Starts with You premise is that it subtly shifts the burden of systemic failure onto the consumer. Travel in America is stressful, and passengers are often pushed to their emotional limits by factors entirely outside their control:
- Cramped Conditions: Modern air travel is defined by shrinking seat pitches and aggressive cabin density, turning a standard flight into an exercise in physical endurance.
- Chronic Delays: Airlines operate on razor-thin margins and often overschedule flights, leading to cascading delays that trap passengers in airports for hours.
- The Fee Economy: The constant nickel-and-diming for everything from checked bags to seat assignments contributes to a feeling of being exploited before the plane even leaves the gate.
When passengers are already stressed, uncomfortable, and feeling financially manipulated, asking them to simply be polite can sound tone-deaf. It’s like demanding perfect driving etiquette on a perpetually gridlocked highway. The problem isn’t the drivers’ manners; it’s the traffic infrastructure.
What Truly Ushers in a Golden Age?
If the DOT truly wants to usher in a Golden Age of Travel, the focus must pivot from the passengers’ dress code to the industry’s practices and the government’s investment priorities.
A true Golden Age starts not with the passenger, but with the infrastructure and the corporation:
- System Modernization: The DOT correctly notes that it is working on building an all-new air traffic control system and surging ATC hiring. This is a necessary step. Modernizing antiquated systems is crucial to reducing the delays that trigger passenger frustration.
- Airline Accountability: The DOT needs to strengthen enforcement against airlines for practices that deliberately exacerbate stress, such as chronic cancellations, involuntary bumping, and obfuscating fee structures.
- Space and Comfort: While regulation of seat pitch is complex, the DOT should use its influence to push for minimum standards that prioritize passenger comfort and safety over maximizing corporate profit per flight.
Civility in the cabin is non-negotiable for safety, and we must all hold ourselves accountable for treating service workers with respect. But simply restoring manners does not bring back the glamour, space, or reliability that defined the original Golden Age of Travel.
Secretary Duffy’s campaign addresses the symptom, the unruly passenger, but largely sidesteps the disease: a travel system that is overcrowded, under-invested, and often fundamentally disrespectful to its customers. The real Golden Age will arrive when the system is fixed, not when the passengers are merely admonished.