Millions of passengers fly across the globe every day. Some planes get turned around quickly and cleaning crews do their best to scrub every seat before the next set of passengers come in. However, things can sometimes get missed or stay a little dirty from flight to flight. Now, flight attendants have opened up about the five dirtiest places on airplanes that “rarely” get cleaned so that passengers can avoid touching or at least use hand sanitisers after touching.
Instruction cards
Speaking to Travel + Leisure, Josephine Remo, a flight attendant and travel blogger, revealed that the “dirtiest spot on the plane is the safety instruction card in the sea pocket”. Ms Remo noted that the tray tables sometimes do get wiped down, however, the instruction cards do not.
Overhead bin
The flight attendant also claimed that the overhead bins on the planes are “rarely cleaned” and are “touched by a lot of people”. She went on to recommend everyone to use a cloth or wipe the surface of the overhead compartment before opening it or clean their hands afterwards.
Tray Tables
“Passengers generally know airplanes are riddled with [grime], but the (tray tables) go beyond general germs,” said flight attendant Sue Fogwell.
Separately, the New York Post reported that another flight attendant claimed that while the tray tables are frequently used for eating, some parents use them to change their children’s diapers on top of them.
Seat covers
Ms Fogwell also said that the seat covers aren’t always replaced or cleaned so they tend to remain dirty. “Not every gross event is reported, [as] it could create a flight delay,” she added.
Bathroom doors
The bathroom is a hot bed of bacteria, and while the inside of the airplane lavatories are cleaned, the door handles are cleaned less often. Speaking to Travel + Leisure, Ms Remo said, “The toilets are regularly cleaned, but the locks and door handles are not”. “It’s a good idea for passengers to use hand sanitizer after stowing away their luggage, touching anything in the seat pocket in front of them and going to the bathroom,” she added.
Speaking to The Guardian, one flight attendant explained how staffing impacts cleanliness. Rosa Sanchez, an airplane cabin cleaner for Swissport said that staffing problems, time constraints and equipment shortages are leading to dirty, disgusting planes.
“Sometimes we don’t have enough supplies to clean, so we just use what we have or just use water. Sometimes we don’t have a mop, so we use the blankets left on airplanes by passengers to clean the floors,” Ms Sanchez said.
