U.S. Transportation Secretary telling flyers to 'dress a little better' is 'wishful thinking', Canadian expert says
Comments by the U.S. Transportation Secretary about how passengers should try to be more civil while travelling on the American Thanksgiving weekend may be no more than “wishful thinking,” says one Canadian airline expert.
In a press conference this week at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Sean Duffy suggested that a little more civility among passengers could go a long way in what is the busiest weekend at American airports. Among his suggestions: Avoid dressing in “slippers and pajamas” for your flight.
“I call this … dressing with some respect,” he said. “Whether it’s a pair of jeans and a decent shirt, I would encourage people to maybe dress a little better, which encourages us to maybe behave a little better.”
He added: “Let’s try not to wear slippers and pajamas as we come to the airport. I think that’s positive.”
Duffy has noted that, since 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration has seen a 400 per cent increase in in-flight outbursts, ranging from disruptive behaviour to actual violence . He also pointed out that since 2021 there have been 13,800 unruly-passenger incidents, and that one in five flight attendants experienced physical incidents in 2021.
John Gradek, a lecturer in aviation management at McGill University in Montreal, said the transportation secretary made some good points but that his suggestions lack teeth.
“There’s no rules about what you should wear,” he told National Post. “There are rules about how you behave, but I think Secretary Duffy is getting frustrated and would like to see some other behaviours curtailed, and a dress code is one of those behaviours that he thinks needs to be changed.”
But he added: “I think it’s just wishful thinking of his part, because he doesn’t like to see fights on airplanes.”
This month, Duffy unveiled a campaign called The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You , hearkening back to earlier times not only with its name but with a video that includes images of classy Pan Am flights (the airline ceased operations in 1991) backed by Frank Sinatra’s 1958 hit Come Fly With Me.
“He’d like to see everybody go back to flying in the 1950s,” said Gradek. “Everybody was sitting there with suits and ties and dresses and having a very civil environment. You dressed up for flying on an airplane as you dressed up for going on a cruise ship. The world has changed, Mr. Duffy. We now have a very different set of social guidelines social mores.”
He applauded Duffy’s attempts at “moral suasion” but noted: “There really isn’t much he can do to enforce it unless he decides he wants to enforce it. Then he’s got the regulatory authority.”
Duffy seemed to step back from that level of change, however.
“We’ve seen … a degradation in civility in the airspace,” he said. “You can’t legislate that, right? You can’t mandate it, but I think if you ask people: Could we do better? Could we be better? I think you won’t get a better result unless you make the ask. And so I’m just making the ask. Let’s all travel better together.”
Gradek pointed out that Canada has laws about drinking or being inebriated on an aircraft, and “the airlines and the airports have their own set of internal rules of when should staff intervene.”
But he added: “You don’t see anything in the contract that’s established between a passenger and an airline. Regulations of carriage don’t have much to say in terms of what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Duffy also urged people to help others with their bags and with boarding, and to be polite. “Maybe we should say please and thank you to our pilots and to our flight attendants,” he said.
Bryan Bedford, the recently appointed FAA Administrator, also spoke at Duffy’s event, sounding a slightly darker note.
“We hope we have everyone treating one another with respect,” he said. “So follow the golden rule. I will tell you however that we will not hesitate to utilize our enforcement authorities if anyone is causing any problems in the airport or on aircraft.”
Gradek said it might have to come to that.
“Duffy’s trying to create a bit of conversation and a bit of debate,” he said. “Is there a way that we can do it through moral suasion rather than regulations? I think we’re at the point now at our social structure that we need to have some very specific bounds in place in terms of what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable.”
But he added his own note of hopefulness. “I don’t think we in Canada, for he most part, are in the same state of social disrepair as our friends south of the border are. Hopefully we won’t get there.”
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