Have you ever wondered how revolting and disgusting an airplane can be? When it comes to flying it’s known that when you’re sitting next to strangers, sharing a restroom, hours on end, it may not feel particularly clean. You probably have never really thought about how many people fly in that plane per day, or the number of germs brought onto the plan. Normally you would believe that the bathroom would be one of the dirtiest places on the plane. However, the bathroom is not the dirtiest place! In 2015 a study was done by two microbiologists to see how much bacteria were on each surface and calculated the total number of bacteria per square inch. Nearly half of the bacteria that was swabbed had yeast or mold. This could get a person very sick and cause an infection. Doesn’t this give you the chills?
Are you ready to never want to fly again? The airplane seatback trays are the dirtiest surface on the plane. The study shows that the trays have 2,155 colony forming units of bacteria per square inch. This is eight times higher than a toilet flush button! Flight attendants report that they have seen everything from dirty diapers and chewed gum. This makes me want to never fly again!
Research shows another surface that is very forgotten, has many germs, bacteria, and viruses is the head rests. Of course, people have their heads there but the amount of hands that also touch it while trying to keep their balance when walking up and down the aisle. E. coli was found on one of the headrests with many types of bacteria that could cause some serious illnesses.
From all the tests, the evidence is shown that there isn’t a good cleaning routine. When the flight attendants get time to clean, there is just a simple wipe down of the seats, head rests, and trays; instead of a full clean. It’s very disturbing that the airplane company will usually do a full clean only once a year! This is because they want to constantly keep flights running. As a reminder when you are planning on flying, bring any type of sanitation wipes to clean any type of surfaces before you sit. Having good hygienic habits can also limit the germs. Before using the restroom, keep wipes with you, use paper towels when touching any type of surface including the sink, toilet lid, or any type of surface.
Claire Thebeau
Ms. Harner's EN100 Blog 