The ‘golden age’ of travel is over – but if we all care about our customs, we can start a new era.
That’s the message from US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, who has launched a new “civic campaign” ahead of the busy holiday travel season called “The Golden Age of Travel Begins With You.”
According to a statement from the US Department of Transportation (DoT), the campaign aims to “start a nationwide conversation about how we can bring civility and class back to air travel.”
He added: This not only improves the travel experience for the general public, but also ensures the safety of passengers, gate workers, flight attendants and pilots.
To back up its argument that air travel etiquette has gone out the window, the Department of Transportation claimed that since 2019, the FAA has seen a 400 percent increase in flight disturbances, 13,800 unruly passenger incidents since 2021, and unruly passenger reports have doubled from 6 to 202,100.
It also claimed that one in five flight attendants will experience physical incidents in 2021, and that in 2024 the number of unruly passenger incidents will double compared to 2019.
The campaign includes a video that compares past flights with today’s scenes of unruly behavior in airports and airplanes.
It opens with footage of smartly dressed passengers aboard the BOAC jet, which operated between 1939 and 1974, with a voiceover saying: “Flight was the bulwark of civilization. But today…”
We then see a montage of air rage incidents and artificial flights, including feet on the back of a chair and someone using their toes to operate a touch screen television.
“It’s not like it used to be, let’s bring back civility,” says Duffy.
“Do you help a pregnant or elderly woman put their bags in the overhead bin? Do you dress respectfully? Do you keep control of your children and help them through the airport? Do you thank your flight attendants? Do you say please and thank you in general?” she asks.
He added: “There’s no doubt that we’ve forgotten the things that make travel fun — the excitement, the relaxation, the heart-to-heart conversations. Americans already feel divided and stressed. We can all do our part to restore civility, manners and common sense. When we can unite around shared values, we can feel more connected as a country.”
But has air travel really become more unruly?
Statistics provided by the DoT show, but the data can be used to paint a shocking picture of the disorder at 38,000 feet.
Many of the shocking numbers rely on data from 2021, a year that was a historical anomaly due to Musk’s federal orders on airplanes.
According to the FAA, more than 70 percent of accidents in 2021 involved masks.
This statistic also does not take into account the changing culture of reporting among airlines.
In response to the January 6 Capitol riots in January 2021 and related chaos on DC flights — some disruptive protesters disrupted travel by continuing to gather in the air as they flew home — along with increasing incidents of Musk’s anger, FAA Administrator Steve Dixon signed the Zero Tolerance order.
Since then, airlines have been encouraged to report any incidents, which may increase the FAA’s tally of illegal behavior.
It could also be argued that “13,800 incidents from 2021” is relatively low when spread over four years and billions of passengers.
Simon Calder, travel reporter Independentalso points to a wild variance in DoT statistics and International Aviation Association (IATA) statistics.
He commented: “I’ve seen some vague statistical claims in my time, but this one is exceptional. IATA points to a 2.5% annual increase in catastrophic travel incidents worldwide, adjusted for the growing number of flights.
“But at one point in their statement the DoT claims they have doubled since 2019 – and confusingly it also claims a fivefold increase. As they say never trust any statistics unless you get them yourself.”
“But at least the video has a sense of class, showing passengers boarding a BOAC jet – a predecessor of British Airways.”
Friday kicks off the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period (Nov. 21-Dec. 1), and American Airlines ( A4A ) projects that US airlines will carry more than 31 million passengers over the holiday — the highest number ever.
During the holiday period, A4A expects US airlines to fly 2.8 million passengers per day. To meet this demand, US airlines will offer 45,000 more seats per day than in 2024.
The busiest days of the Thanksgiving holiday are expected to be Sunday, November 30th and Monday, December 1st.
