Flights welcome all sorts of plane passengers on board, all of whom have differing approaches to cleanliness. While one traveller may be hygienic and tidy, another may display minimal plane etiquette on board. With this in mind, a cabin crew member has revealed what he wished passengers knew about aircraft. The flight attendant explained that flyers should never walk around shoes on as planes can be very filthy indeed.
“I think people don’t realise how dirty the planes are,” the cabin crew for PSA Airlines, an American Airlines Group subsidiary, told Travel & Leisure.
A plane might look relatively spic and span when you board but the truth is that most likely they are not.
The flight attendant said aircraft only receive a thorough cleaning once a day.
However, cabin crew do pick up rubbish between each flight the plane makes.
An aircraft can do as many as three or four flights in one day, depending on their route.
According to The Telegraph, an EasyJet A320 completed precisely four flights a day over the course of a week and flew nearly one-and-a-half times around the world in just seven days, naming it airborne for nearly 90 hours.
Plane passengers are particularly cautioned against going to the loo in bare feet.
“Please do not ever walk into a toilet with bare feet,” a flight attendant posted on a Reddit thread.
“I promise you, nine times out of 10, that is not water on the floor.
They added: “The toilets are often absolutely disgusting and get deep cleaned only at the end of a route.
“For us, this could be from one side of the world to the other… imagine how lovely they are at the end of a 12-hour flight with 200 people using them.”
A third cabin crew member has passengers should also never rest their head against the window – flyers never know how many people have coughed, breathed, sneezed and who knows what else against the surface.
She warned that if travellers realised how dirty the wall next to a window seat is they’d never lean on it.
“I see plenty of people carry Lysol wipes with them that will wipe the area around their seat,” Linda Ferguson, a flight attendant for 24 years, told Reader’s Digest.
“If there was a backlight and they could light up a plane with all the germs, I think it would petrify everybody. My rule of thumb, and I never get sick, is I never put my hands in my mouth or near my face.”
Travellers could be exposed to different strains of illness should they travel on a short haul plane that had not been cleaned.
Nutritionist Shona Wilkinson told express.co.uk fellow passengers are the biggest risk, adding “There are certainly places where the germ count is highest.
“The worst spot is the flush button in the toilet. This can have over 95,000 CFUs (germ colony forming units) compared to approximately 172 CFUs found on your flush button in your own home.
“The next places to be aware of are the tray table and the seatbelt buckles. Be wary of any places where many people will be touching e.g. armrests, overhead air vents, screens etc.
