The Trump administration has made a concerted effort to restore a "golden age of travel" over the course of 2025.
I love a nice fitting suit and the freedom to chain smoke in the sky as much as the next person, but it's time to have an honest dialogue. This is nostalgia run amok.
Air travel is safer than it's ever been. We have in-flight Wi-Fi, access to seatback chargers and screens and even lie-flat beds in first class on some carriers.
Restoring a golden age of travel starts with addressing shrinking seats and legroom.
And these are gripes that should be brought up with the airlines, more so than the American people.
We also can't glorify flying in the mid-20th century without first talking about what life was like for so many Americans during that period.
There's no going back to go forward.
Plane cabin. (Photo Credit: Adobe/tonefotografia)
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and DOT recently launched a new civility campaign called "The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You." If it sounds like a lot of pressure, don't worry.
Prompted by a few Duffy media appearances, many outlets ran with this as a push to have travelers dress up in suits and dresses before boarding their next flight, but ultimately, this is a campaign with much more bark than bite.
Talking points include saying "please" and "thank you" to flight attendants and others, keeping an eye on your kids at the gate and helping elderly passengers put their luggage in the overhead bin, for example.
To be clear, the vast, vast majority of us travelers do these things when we hop in an Uber, pass through the airport and board a plane. Smartphones be damned, the rumors of the demise of manners have been greatly exaggerated.
Travel frequently enough and the odds are bound to disappoint. But now you're having a human nature conversation.
We're only weeks removed from a crippling government shutdown that resulted in thousands of canceled flights and prompted legitimate safety concerns as TSA officers and air traffic controllers didn't show up for work after not receiving paychecks.
I'd argue that entering a golden age of travel starts with overcoming ongoing staffing shortages. Another actionable move to improve the air travel experience is by investing in airports, which DOT revealed plans to do this week.
Another new campaign, "Make Travel Family Friendly Again," includes $1 billion in funding to prioritize making airport terminals more family-friendly via adding more children’s play areas, mothers’ rooms or nursing pods, establishing family screening lanes at TSA checkpoints, building sensory rooms for the neurodivergent and more.
“Bringing about a Golden Age in travel has to involve making the family travel experience happier and healthier,” said Duffy. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to enacting a Family First agenda and improving the lives of the American people.”
Most of if not all of us, can agree to follow the golden rule of treating others how we would want to be treated.
If we're ever going to live in a golden age of travel, it'll start by moving the conversation forward with real solutions to nagging problems. The Make Travel Family Friendly Again campaign is a great start.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
