RFK Jr., Duffy launch new family-friendly travel campaign

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation will make $1 billion in grants available for U.S. airports to improve experiences for traveling families. Think miniature gyms for parents, play sets for the kids and breastfeeding stations for mothers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at an event at Reagan National Airport, where he unveiled a new campaign called “Make Travel Family Friendly Again.”

“A lot of parents feel like, as they’re entertaining their kids, there are cellphones and iPads, but if you have a space where it’s fun and clean for your children to burn more energy … if you can give them a space where they can play and have fun in an airport, I think parents would prefer that option,” Duffy said Monday, when he also advocated for dedicated TSA security lanes for families and healthier food options.

“It’s pretty wide open on what airports want to ask for,” said Duffy, who encouraged airports to suggest their ideas for family-friendly improvements that could be eligible for the DOT grant funds.

The Airports Council International for North America did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the new campaign and grant program for their members.

“I can tell you this is where healthy diets go to die,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at Monday’s DOT campaign announcement with Duffy. “The food that’s available at the airport, a lot of it tastes very good, but it’s not very good for you. It’s deep-fried food, sugar bombs, it’s ultra-processed foods.”

Kennedy said eating healthy food when traveling will help travelers arrive at their destinations “feeling invigorated and robust and healthier.”

He encouraged airports to offer more healthy options and to use refrigerated vending machines that dispense fresh items, like those offered by the company Farmer’s Fridge.

According to CEO Luke Saunders, who was at Monday’s event, 30 airports currently offer Farmer’s Fridge vending machines to sell fresh items such as steakhouse chopped salads, high-protein chicken bowls, blueberry chia overnight oats and charcuterie protein snack boxes.

Kennedy also advocated for investments to improve airport nursing rooms and help mothers breastfeed as long as possible, saying, “There’s no better food for your brain or your gut microbiome, your physical growth or your emotional growth than what’s in God-given breast milk.”

While federal law requires small, medium and large airports to provide private, non-bathroom lactation rooms in each terminal, a 2025 Mamava survey of 3,000 breastfeeding parents found that public spaces need to improve their lactation infrastructure to meet their needs.

Citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that found 20% of U.S. children are obese, Kennedy also said he supports airport playgrounds and gyms to help deter kids from inactive, screen-based activities.

He then demonstrated his support for airport mini-gyms by doing 20 pull-ups on a temporary pull-up bar.

“HHS is very excited about working with our companions over at the Department of Transportation and Secretary Duffy to help develop these alternatives that are going to make flying more friendly but also the travel experience healthier for every American so that we can make America healthy again,” Kennedy said.

The Make Travel Family Friendly Again campaign follows a civility campaign Duffy announced before the busy Thanksgiving travel period, encouraging air travelers to say please and thank you to flight attendants and to refrain from taking their shoes off, playing music without headphones or wearing slippers and pajamas when they fly.