Airline staff reveal why your plane is so dirty

Which? has been told that a team of cleaners can be given as little as eight minutes to wipe-down a 180-seat plane between flights, even with some 'premium' carriers.

To put that in context; staff told us that with a typical team of eight cleaners, two work their way down the aisle, while others clean the gallery and toilets. That gives cleaners around six seconds to clean each seat. 

Cabin crew told us of nappies found on the floor, used tissues stuffed into seat-back pockets and crumbs left on tray tables – all after the cleaners have whizzed through.

One flight attendant said they’d ‘often’ seen cleaners wiping down the rim of the toilets then using the same cloth to clean where food was prepared. 

Shockingly, this is mentioned in official Civil Aviation Guidance to airlines, where paragraph 7.3.3 says: ‘It is not unknown for cleaners to ... use the same surface cloths in both toilet and galley’.

On some occasions, particularly with low-cost carriers, there may be no cleaning staff at all between flights. Instead planes are only properly cleaned at the end of the day.

Budget airlines would argue that their fast turnarounds make them cheaper for passengers than more fastidious competitors. Cutting a few minutes off the turnaround time during the day might mean they can run an extra flight, adding revenue and keeping costs low. 

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Flight crew feel pressured to fly when sick

Health and hygiene expert Professor Sally Bloomfield of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says that the common complaint from travellers of having ‘picked up a bug on the plane’ might have some truth.

But the issue is more likely to be other passengers and cabin crew with colds or other respiratory illnesses, rather than lack of cleaning. This particularly affects flight attendants.

We heard from six employees from different airlines and they all told us that they’d flown with colds and other minor illnesses – and not because they wanted to. 

‘I was always sick,’ one ex-flight attendant said. ‘There’s a huge amount of pressure to turn up. If you’re sick, you have a meeting with the base manager to explain why you need time off. That’s across the board at all airlines.’

Airline cleaning standards rated

In our annual survey of the best and worst airlines most of the long-haul carriers were rated very highly for cleaning, with many – such as Emirates and Virgin Atlantic, getting the full five stars. 

Some short-haul carriers, such as Finnair, Jet2 and Turkish also did a good job. But easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling and Wizz Air got just two stars.

We asked the large airlines with the lowest ratings for cleanliness in our survey whether planes are always cleaned between flights and if they are disinfected. 

EasyJet said ‘We deploy the highest standard of aircraft cleaning procedures in line with the latest recommendations and every easyJet aircraft is cleaned at the end of every flying day. A recent assessment indicated that the hygiene levels on board easyJet’s aircraft after cleaning are as high as the national food hygiene requirements.’ It also told us that staff are never pressured to fly when sick. 

Ryanair said that flights are cleaned between every turnaround.

Vueling said ‘At Vueling, we take our passengers’ health and safety very seriously, therefore, maintenance and cleaning are a top priority for us. The company follows strict cleaning protocols servicing the aircrafts regularly during the day. In addition, the aircrafts get cleaned every night, once the day is completed. Cleaning procedures are carried out with no exception and any unusual situation is reported internally so it can be addressed as soon as possible. We also conduct regular health and safety audits to ensure we comply with the established cleaning standards.’

Wizz Air did not respond to a request for comment.

How to stay healthy on a flight

Wash your hands. If you’ve touched seat backs on your way from the loo, sanitise your hands again before eating.

Wipe down the tray table before placing food there.

Switch the overhead ventilator on. It will disperse any microbes coming from your neighbours.

Forget the so-called ‘five second rule’. If you drop a biscuit on the floor in an aeroplane – throw it away.

Don’t take off your shoes. Fungal infections can get through your socks, and the socks of the person who was sitting there before you.