Passengers are increasing at Sky Harbor International Airport Monday, Nov.25, 2019..

"The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You" campaign is encouraging people to be more courteous in the air. It's also exhorting travelers to dress appropriately, to mind their children and their manners.

When the Department of Transportation announced a new campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to encourage travelers to be more civil when they fly, it inevitably got people talking.

USA TODAY heard from many readers, who were pretty much all in agreement with the campaign's goals, but also said passengers alone aren't to blame for the current headaches in air travel.

"I agree that civility needs to be restored when flying. However, the airlines make that challenging by treating people like cattle, cramming them into ever decreasing seat space so that knees are hitting the seat back in front and shoulders are squished against total strangers," Mike Strauss, from Norman, Oklahoma, told USA TODAY in an email. "Unfortunately, when the airlines treat people like animals, it encourages people to act like animals."

Some also felt that the Trump administration isn't best positioned to advise on manners.

Still, Lisa Mirza Grotts, a certified etiquette expert and author of "A Traveler’s Passport to Etiquette," agreed that the goals of the DOT campaign are sound.

"This is what I advocate. It’s so interesting to me that they’re asking us to be civil," she said. "I think it’s important when you travel, to travel light. Not just your bags, but your expectations. Just go with the flow ... That’s when the kindness and the character and your in-flight conduct matter more than ever."

Grotts said she doesn't necessarily think people need to wear suits and ties or dresses and pearls to fly anymore, but she even agreed with the DOT's guidance about dressing the part.

Here are some of her key tips for how to dress when you travel:

  • Wear layers: you never know what the temperature on the plane will be.
  • Keep your shoes on: no one wants to see your bare feet.
  • Dress respectfully: "The friendly skies, if you will, reward those who rise to that occasion," she said.

"I think comfort is key. You always dress in layers on an airplane, but I am not ever slovenly. Comfort and dignity can coexist," she said. "Pajamas, bare feet, those are great at home watching a Hallmark movie, but not 30,000 feet in the air."

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Feds ask travelers to be more civil. Readers want airlines to step up.

Reporting by Zach Wichter, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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