Trump administration wants airlines, airports to offer healthier food, exercise options

ARLINGTON, Virginia, Dec 8 - The Trump administration said on Monday it wants airlines and airports to offer travelers healthier food options, exercise equipment and family-friendly features like playspaces and nursing facilities.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a press conference at Reagan Washington National Airport that he had called a majority of major U.S. airline CEOs and asked them what they could do to improve the travel experience.

 Duffy last month urged airlines to add healthier on-board food options and to dump salty pretzels and calorie-laden cookies. 

Asked if he could do anything to lower costs for food at airports, Duffy said on Monday it was tied to market demand and supply.

"They have people pretty tightly contained and there's not a lot of options - so I don't have a plan to reduce costs," Duffy said. "What I am trying to do is provide healthier options."

Duffy also urged airports to add more dedicated spaces for young children and exercise equipment and to boost places for mothers to nurse their children.

Duffy last month rolled out a new campaign encouraging people to act and dress nicely during air travel, asking travelers not to wear pajamas and slippers to the airport.

"This is not about mandates. This is not requirements. This is a conversation about could we offer healthier options?" Duffy said on Monday. "How do we make the experience, as we all travel together, just a little bit better? That's the conversation we're having. But I'm not cramming this down anyone's throat.... I'm not fining anyone if they wear their pajamas on the airplane."

Duffy and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy took turns doing pull-ups at the airport to tout the benefits of getting exercise before flights.

Duffy is overseeing a $12.5 billion overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system and working to address a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers. He wants Congress to approve another $19 billion to complete the job.

Duffy said he had no update on a Transportation Department proposal issued under President Joe Biden barring airlines from charging fees to seat families with young children together on U.S. flights if adjacent seats were available during booking.

His department currently lists that proposal under "long-term actions."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jamie Freed)