Transportation secretary Sean Duffy urges travelers not to wear slippers and pajamas to airport

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that Americans can make holiday air travel a little better by dressing up, avoiding 'slippers and pajamas' on the plane.

At a press conference at Newark Liberty Airport Monday, Duffy said he believes the guidelines could bring a 'return to civility' in the friendly skies as he wants overall behavior at the airport to improve. 

'I call this maybe "dressing with some respect." Whether it's a pair of jeans and a decent shirt, I would encourage people to maybe dress a little better, which encourage 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. I think that's positive.'

He warned to travelers 'don't take your shoes off and put your feet on the chair ahead of you,' with Duffy claiming 'it honors our country.' 

Duffy, wearing a navy blue suit himself, also wants better treatment for pilots and flight attendants during the busy holiday season. 

'I think we have to think about, how do we do a better job? How do we maintain some of that frustration we have as we travel this Thanksgiving season? Maybe we should say a "please" and "thank you" to our pilots and to our flight attendants.' 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that Americans can make holiday air travel a little better by dressing up, avoiding 'slippers and pajamas' on the plane

At a press conference at Newark Liberty Airport Monday, he said he believes the guidelines could bring a 'return to civility' in the friendly skies as he wants overall behavior at the airport to improve

'Bringing civility back, I think, enhances the travel experience for everybody,' he added. 

Duffy was grateful air traffic controller staffing levels have stabilized in time for what he says will be the busiest Thanksgiving on record for travel, while the head of the FAA reassured passengers that they can 'fly with confidence' this week. 

Many air traffic controllers had walked off the job during the record-long government shutdown, which Duffy criticized at the time. 

The turbulence caused by the longest U.S. government shutdown may still be fresh on the minds of travelers this Thanksgiving, but experts say preparing for the usual holiday crush of winter weather, heavy traffic and crowded airports can help ease the jitters.

'I think the shutdown at this point is history for air travel. The airlines understand this time of year so well. They know exactly what they need to do,' said Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport and airlines operations expert. 

'The real challenge is making sure travelers can help themselves .'

AAA projects 1.3 million more travelers will be on the roads than last year, pushing the total number of people traveling by car to at least 73 million.

Duffy also wants better treatment for pilots and flight attendants during the busy holiday season

The turbulence caused by the longest U.S. government shutdown may still be fresh on the minds of travelers this Thanksgiving, but experts say preparing for the usual holiday crush of winter weather, heavy traffic and crowded airports can help ease the jitters

The Weather Channel offers a Thanksgiving weekly forecast highlighting major airports and highways that could be affected by bad weather - including snow, ice and rain.

Forecasters on Monday warned of flooding rain and the possibility of severe thunderstorms from Texas to Arkansas and Louisiana into Mississippi that could cause problems for airports in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston.

By Monday afternoon, over 750 flights into and out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were delayed and about 100 canceled, while at Love Field more than 100 flights were delayed and nearly 70 canceled, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

On Tuesday, the FAA's busiest day with more than 52,000 flights scheduled, forecasters say rain is expected in the Pacific Northwest and in much of the eastern US Airports in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, DC could be impacted, according to the Weather Channel.

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