Ahead of holiday travel, feds seek more 'civility' on flights

Federal officIals call for more 'civility' on flights ahead of holidays

Ahead of the busy holiday travel season, federal officials are asking all of us to be a little nicer to each other on flights.

DULLES, Va. - Ahead of the busy holiday travel season, federal officials are asking all of us to be a little nicer to each other on flights.

By the numbers:

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy posted on social media Wednesday, writing, "It’s not your imagination. Traveling has become more uncivilized!"

He then followed up the claim with several statistics. Among them, Duffy wrote that there has been a 400 percent increase in outbursts on planes since 2019, and he also said that one in five flight attendants report experiencing physical incidents.

What's next:

As a result of the bad behavior, Duffy is asking the public for more civility while traveling. He said that includes people being courteous to their fellow travelers, saying please and thank you to flight crews, dressing with respect, and lending a hand to those who could use it.

"Be nice, say please, say thank you. Bringing civility back, I think, enhances the travel experience for everybody," Duffy told Fox Business.

What they're saying:

At Dulles International Airport Wednesday evening, travelers mostly told Fox 5 that Duffy's request sounded fine to them.

"We should be nice," said Chris Ashenbrenner said, "I tell my daughter, you get more with sugar than you do with salt."

But when asked whether people would actually take Duffy's advice, others, including Nicolas Bianchi, simply said, "No."