Laura Flippin, world traveler, writes about the cleaning situation for different airlines- such an important health topic that is rarely addressed.

1. How often are
airplanes cleaned?
By Laura Flippin, Travel Enthusiast

2. With diseases like Ebola
spreading, it is important
that these germs are not
transferred though
airplanes that are not
sufficiently cleaned

3. Who is in charge?
• Federal Aviation Administration?
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration?
• FAA?
• FDA?

4. No

5. Who IS in charge?
• The Airlines themselves
• World Health Organization (WHO) has a say also

6. There have been new
adjustments in protocol
when flying in or out of hot
spot zones like western
Africa, recently.
!
This has been
recommended by WHO and
The Center for Disease
Control and Prevention

7. Where is the contamination?
• Tray tables
• Back seat pockets
• People in two rows around you on
the flight
• Pillows
• Blankets

8. Delta
• Wipes down first-class tray tables and windows in
between flights but sometimes Coach tables and windows
don’t get cleaned until overnight
• Bathrooms and galleys get cleaned overnight or after
international flights
• Uses disinfectant and spent a year testing which they
believe to be best (but won’t say which it is)
• Gets a deep cleaning (washing of seat cushions, cleaning
carpets, floors, bathrooms, bins, tray tables) every 90-100
days

9. United Airlines
• Wipes down first-class tray tables and windows in between flights but
sometimes Coach tables and windows don’t get cleaned until
overnight
• Bathrooms and galleys get cleaned overnight or after international
flights
• Uses general-purpose cleaners- believes these cleaners are better
than disinfectants in seating areas
• On quick turns, workers remove visible trash
• On standard turns, cleaning crews clean out seat-back pockets
• The plane will delay and clean if there is a bigger problem (like vomit)
• Gets a deep cleaning every 35-55 days

10. American
• Bathrooms and galleys get cleaned overnight or
after international flights
• Uses disinfectant to clean
• Gets a deep cleaning every 30 days

11. Boeing 777-300
• A crew of up to 12 workers spend 40 minutes cleaning
the plane during a typical stopover in Houston
• Floors are vacuumed
• Sheets are changed in crew rest areas
• Toilets, waste bins, galley floors and wine chillers are
washed
• Pillows, headrest covers and blankets are changed

12. “We see in data that customers enjoy a flight
more when the airplane is clean”
–Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant

13. Enjoy your
flight!
By Laura Flippin, who has
traveled to over 30 countries.
!
Read more: http://
www.tripadvisor.com/
members/LauraFlippin
!
and
!
http://lauraflippin.com