Trump Admin Tells Americans to Ditch the ‘Slippers and Pajamas’ at the Airport Ahead of Thanksgiving Travel

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary is encouraging Americans to “dress a little better” at airports ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel season. 

On Monday, Nov. 24, Secretary Sean Duffy held a press conference at Newark International Airport in New Jersey ahead of the busy holiday travel season. The department expects to see 73 million Americans hitting the roads this Thanksgiving week while 31 million Americans are expected to travel by air. 

The administrator also took the opportunity to expand on the department’s new “Golden Age of Travel” campaign that the department hopes will “inspire return to civility and address record surge in unruly passengers.”

“I would encourage people to dress a little better which encourages us to maybe behave a little better,” Duffy said. “Let’s try not to wear slippers and pajamas as we come to the airport.”

The remarks come just days after the DOT publicly announced its “Golden Age of Travel” campaign on Nov. 19. According to a press release, the campaign intends to “jumpstart a nationwide conversation around how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel.”

The department pointed to a 400% increase of “in-flight outbursts” since 2019 and 13,800 unruly passenger incidents since 2021. 

It encourages travelers to ask themselves if they are “helping a pregnant woman or the elderly with placing their bags in the overhead bin,” if they are dressing with respect, keeping control of their children, and saying please and thank you to all.

In the days since the announcement, Duffy has repeatedly posted about the campaign on X. However, it is drawing a mixed reaction online. 

“I’m a Marine Corps Veteran that experienced ‘incidents’ in air that have caused PTSE related issues when traveling. Wearing slacks and a dress shirt is constricting and warm, compared to comfortable wear,” one user replied to the secretary's post. “I live by the air vent above to keep me calm in rough air. Perhaps some understanding of what some people go through might change the messaging here.” 

Another said: "Common sense says I’m not wearing anything that the TSA is going to make me take off in the security line. Sweat pants it is buddy.”

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Another wrote, “If we could eliminate slippers and pajamas in public, especially the grocery store, we’d all benefit.”