Viral

Flight attendant reveals the most disgusting part of an airplane

Flight attendant reveals the most disgusting part of an airplane
Flight attendant reveals dirtiest place on planes — and it's not the ...
New York Post

As millions of people from around the board airplanes each day, this mode of public transport means aircrafts need to be cleaned regularly, especially since the Covid pandemic - but which part of the plane is the dirtiest?

Flight attendant and TikToker Brenda Orelus otherwise known as Flight Bae B! (@flightbae.bflightbae.b) has provided us with the answer and it's perhaps not quite what we were all thinking.

"Did you know seat-back pockets are the dirtiest surface on the aircraft? They're dirtier than the lavatories, they're dirtier than the seat cushions and they're dirtier than the tray tables," she explained.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Most of us would have assumed the toilets, but Orelus goes on to detail why seat-back pockets take the title.

"It's because they're never cleaned. Unless somebody vomits or there's something ooey, gooey and pus coming out of there, it doesn't get cleaned," the TikToker added.

Not exactly a pleasant image.

"All of those germs have accumulated and there's no real regular maintenance or cleaning of those surfaces whereas lavatories are regularly wiped down and sanitised."


@flightbae.b

Want to know the dirtiest surface on aircrafts? 🦠 #dailytraveltips #airporttiktok #travelhacks #traveltiktok #flightbae #traveltok #flightattendant #flightattendantstories #cabincrewstories

The video has received 31,000 views, and thousands of likes as well the comment section being full of lively debate over whether the seat-back pockets are the dirtiest part of a plane.

One person wrote: "As a cabin cleaner she is right. We just clear the trash. It only gets cleaned when they deep clean the plane."

"Not true," another person said. "If its a quick turn then no it doesn't get cleaned but if the plane stays overnight then the cleaners will actually clean it. Now u know."

Someone else added: "That’s not true I work as [an] airplane cleaner & we actually have two teams for each plane. One takes trash and vacuums the other team deep cleans each one."

The TikToker herself challenged the commenter and replied: What does the team look like during a quick turn? How often are you being rushed off the plane so they can board and get the plane out?"

While others mentioned what they have seen passengers use the seat-back pocket for - and some of them are pretty disgusting.

One person said: "This is very true! I once saw a parent place a used diaper in the seat-back pocket."

"I don’t use them, I’ll always see people [with] their feet in them," another person wrote.

Someone else added: "I was on a flight where a guy took off his mask, sneezed into his hand, then wiped it on the safety manual/menu in the seat back pocket."

Yikes, don't know about you but we might have second thoughts about using the seat-back pocket on our next flight...

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)