In decades past, it was customary to wear respectable dress clothes when traveling on airplanes.
Now that we take air travel for granted, one is much more likely to see pajamas, yoga pants, khaki shorts, and disheveled hair in the terminal or waiting for TSA.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unexpectedly induced a massive social media debate over the declining standards for personal attire in airports by advising the nation to dress a bit better — not just for themselves, but for the sake of their fellow passengers.
“People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly,” Duffy said in a now-viral Fox Business interview about air travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up. Bring civility back to travel.”
Trump’s Transportation Secretary on how to improve air travel:
“People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly… We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up” pic.twitter.com/Y2gCyKKOR1
— FactPost (@factpostnews) November 20, 2025
Social media users rushed to agree with Duffy — or offer a not-so-friendly piece of their minds — over his advice.
On the positive side, one commenter agreed that “the way people dress at the airport should be a public health concern.”
“Has been truly wild seeing what has happened in the last decade on planes,” another added, pointing to a previous post of his about several grown men on a plane trip he took wearing shorts.
On the less-than-positive side, plenty of users noted that the decline in airport standards came right alongside invasive searches and smaller seats on planes.
“Why dress up when you have to take off everything when going through TSA?” one user asked.
“When the airlines give regular fliers something better than a cattle car, maybe i will dress up,” another replied.
“I’ll start wearing a collared shirt on a plane when those mf’s give me more than a bag of pretzels on a 6 hours flight,” a third shot back.
A few users even questioned Duffy’s priorities given the recent government shutdowns that severely disrupted American air travel in recent weeks.
“Yes passenger dress codes are more important than failure to hire air traffic controllers,” one commenter said.
Perhaps such raucous debate can continue around the Thanksgiving table this year, right alongside myriad religious and political disputes with family members from across the ideological spectrum.
Whether you dress formally or informally as you travel this holiday, just make sure to bring some pants you can loosen on the flight home after feasting sumptuously on Thanksgiving fare.
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