Trump official wants us to dress with ‘respect’ on planes. What does that mean, exactly?

(NEXSTAR) – The Department of Transportation (DOT) is hoping the public will help usher in a “Golden Age of Travel” — and it apparently means dressing up before you head to the airport.

In a press release issued Wednesday, the DOT announced that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is pushing a “new civility campaign” aimed at reducing rude behavior and in-flight disturbances caused by passengers. As part of the Duffy’s campaign, the DOT suggested that passengers should be “dressing with respect,” but it did not elaborate on exactly what that means in its press release.

All of the country’s major airlines already have guidelines concerning passenger attire in their respective contracts of carriage, which generally require travelers to practice good hygiene and refrain from wearing offensive or lewd clothing items. But when asked, a representative for the DOT could not say whether the agency finds the existing guidelines lacking, or how they envision passengers should look in a “Golden Age of Travel.”

Instead, a spokesperson for the DOT directed Nexstar to an X post containing a clip of Duffy’s recent appearance on Fox News, during which he hinted that too many passengers are wearing pajama-like clothing to the airport.

“People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly,” Duffy said, while listing his issues with certain passenger behaviors.

“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,” he added.

Many X users commenting on the video focused on Duffy’s remarks concerning passenger dress, and opinions were divided.

“I cannot wear a [suit] as I am crammed into my seat,” wrote one critic of Duffy’s comments. “You ride back there in row 34 middle seat cause you can’t afford to pay the extra $ to choose your own seat instead of riding shotgun in row 1 and see how comfortable that is.”

“Can we bring back decent dressing … specifically looking at you ladies … stop wearing athleisure wear on the planes,” a supporter of the new campaign posted.

Despite Duffy and the DOT sharing few specifics about their ideas for “dressing with respect,” an etiquette expert who spoke with Nexstar offered her own guidelines on proper airport attire.

Elaine Swann, the author of “Elaine Swann’s Book of Modern Etiquette,” said she thinks there’s “some truth” to Duffy’s remarks, and believes that passengers should level up their attire when preparing to board a flight.

“Yes, some people do look like they’re going to bed. And in my opinion, that’s unacceptable,” Swann said.

Swann, also a former Continental Airlines flight attendant of 10 years, said passengers “don’t need to go back to yesteryear, when we were wearing suits and gloves and all that.” But travelers should still seek out travel attire that’s smart and comfortable (clean athleisurewear falls into this category too, she said) because the airport and the plane cabin are still “public places,” according to Swann.

“We need to respect ourselves, and the spaces that we occupy,” Swann said.

If an airline provides a customer with pajamas (a rare occurrence outside first or business-class cabins), Swann said it’s perfectly acceptable to use them during the flight. But in the economy cabin, she suggested opting for “smart”-looking clothes with elastic waistbands and wrinkle-free material. And she’d prefer her fellow flyers leave their bulkier accessories at home.

“We don’t need to see your queen-size bed pillow,” she said.

Despite how people feel about the DOT’s clothing guidelines, a few critics of the agency’s new campaign accused Duffy of focusing his efforts on the wrong issues.

“I’ll get dressed up for a plane ride just as soon as they make leg room and personal space mandatory as well,” one Reddit user wrote, noting that legroom has been shrinking on U.S. airlines for decades.

“Maybe if people stop wearing pajamas air travel will be safer, no delays, no cancellations and your luggage will follow you off the plane,” a fellow Reddit user said.

“On an airplane recently there was a passenger who pointed his finger to shut up another passenger and told her ‘quiet piggy,’” another X user claimed, referencing a recent incident in which Trump made the same remark to a reporter. “Civility in air travel is sorely lacking. I wish POTUS would do something.”