US government wants 2 big air travel changes Americans won't like

White House officials want to make some major changes to the ways that Americans travel. However, these changes may not end up being popular ones.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discussed the proposed changes that the Administration is advocating for. Duffy made the comments to BlazeTV in an exclusive interview ahead of the busy travel season.

Here’s what Duffy wants to do, along with some reasons why Americans probably won’t be happy about the suggestions.

Americans are largely satisfied with the current state of air travel

Across the United States, there are more than 44,000 daily flights that carry over three million airline passengers across over 29 million miles of airspace. These statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration make clear that flying is already a popular and common pastime as people travel for work and pleasure.

However, while millions fly daily, JD Power reported that domestic air passenger volume was down in the first quarter of 2025, and pointed out that airlines have been degrading the quality of service in recent years. This has included “introducing new fees on everything from baggage to seat selection.”

Related: Southwest Airlines adds another new rule making travel harder

Satisfaction overall still remains relatively high with air travel despite these changes, with passenger satisfaction up six points year-over-year. Of course, this is on a 1,000-point scale, and most of the increase in satisfaction has come from passengers flying in economy or basic economy class.

JD Power also showed that fewer than 10% of passengers experienced problems, which is a pretty impressive stat considering how much you see people complaining on social media about the state of air travel.

The Department of Transportation wants to make some major changes

While Americans may be largely satisfied with how things are going in the friendly skies right now, that may not be the case soon, as the Department of Transportation (DOT) leaders are making some unpopular proposals regarding changes to flying. 

The changes are part of a newly announced campaign, which the White House published news of on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. The announcement was entitled "The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You: Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Unveils New Civility Campaign Ahead of Busy Holiday Travel Season."

The campaign is focused on civility, and “is intended to jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel.”

Here are the two changes Duffy has called for

When speaking with BlazeTV and in other announcements regarding the campaign, Duffy has called for two big changes:

• Dressing more formally on planes: “I want to have a conversation with America that says, ‘Listen, let’s call on our better angels. Let’s all be better when we travel together. Let’s dress more respectfully. Let’s be nicer to one another. Let’s say please and thank you,'" Duffy said.
• Eating more healthfully when traveling: “I would love some better snacks. I would love a little healthier snack on the airplane. Maybe that could change it all. If I didn’t get the really fattening cookie full of butter and sugar and crap, or that little snack pack of pretzels. Can we do something else?”

While most people would probably be OK with some of his proposals for civility, like saying please and thank you, the reality is that people also want to be comfortable when they travel. The days of people dressing up in their formal best are long over.

It would likely also be very difficult for airlines to hand out healthy food, given that current snacks like cookies, pretzels, and chips are easily transportable and conveniently packaged. Most healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables, would likely be much more difficult to keep fresh and provide at an affordable cost.

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Responses to the suggestions have already not gone over well, with many taking to social media to complain about the campaign, and arguing it would make flying less comfortable. Others have also expressed frustration with the proposals because it isn't the government's job to concern itself with these issues.

As one Reddit user put it: "'Dress better' is so corny. You gonna make that a law, dork? Mandatory suit and tie at the public place where I have to take off my belt and shoes, can’t use my pockets, and get my body scanned for weapons?"

More importantly, the bigger issue is that with air traffic controller shortages and recent safety concerns, the DOT may have bigger things to worry about than whether Americans are in their pajamas on their next flight... and many Americans want the Administration to keep its focus on these issues rather than trying to mandate passengers to behave in ways they don't want to.