Sty in the Sky: The Filth of Flying

The Wall Street Journal

Sty in the Sky: The Filth of Flying
By DARREN EVERSON
August 8, 2007; Page D1

This summer, rampant flight cancellations and delays are forcing many travelers to languish, sometimes for hours, before they can board their flight. Unfortunately, that's nothing compared with what may await them on the plane. Tales of sweaty waits on un-air-conditioned planes, smelly bathrooms, dirty seats and tray-tables smeared with mysterious schmutz abound this season. Travelers complain that the environment on packed planes can degenerate quickly -- and often long before the plane actually starts moving.

One of the most high-profile horror stories this summer was a trans-Atlantic Continental Airlines flight in June, on which sewage overflowed from a lavatory and spilled down the aisle. "It smelled like an outhouse," says Dana Bushman, who was on the flight. Continental later apologized and offered vouchers to the passengers, but Ms. Bushman says she is trying to gather support from fellow passengers to sue the carrier. Continental said it determined that the blockage was caused by someone attempting to flush latex gloves. Emily Moorefield of Ypsilanti, Mich., is convinced that she got laryngitis on a dirty plane full of coughing kids on a flight from New York's La Guardia Airport to Detroit. "The plastic surfaces seem like they haven't been wiped down in a long time," says the writer and performance artist.

Indeed, delays can affect cleanliness and comfort, particularly with planes now flying fuller. The percentage of on-time flights fell to 74.5% in July from 76.4% a year earlier, according to FlightStats.com. Summer thunderstorms have been to blame, as have technical glitches like the Federal Aviation Administration computer snafu on June 8. Because of delays and rebookings, planes can remain in circulation past their scheduled cleaning, says Judy Graham-Weaver, a spokeswoman for AirTran Airways, a division of AirTran Holdings Inc.

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Between flights, though, the cleaning tends to be cursory. American says that it picks up trash and cleans seat-back pouches between flights, but that it doesn't wipe down tray tables or vacuum while at the gate unless there's an obvious mess that must be addressed. ATA Airlines Inc. also says it doesn't wipe down tray tables between flights unless there's a clear need because of the limited ground time. And cleaning schedules and corporate policies don't seem to be enough to allay customer concerns. American says that it's in the process of refurbishing many of its aircraft, having found that customers perceive worn interiors to be unclean, even if they're actually spic-and-span.

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I always carry lots and lots of antibacterial wipes when I travel by air.

There's not much anyone can do about protecting her/himself when sick people decide they are going to fly. After all, you are in a closed container with recirculated air.

Wiping the tray, arm rests, the whole area, feeling like "Monk."

there were delays--3 of them plus a bonus unscheduled stop in O'Hare that the airline didn't bother to tell me about until the day before. On the other hand i went to Las Vegas in April, it is a really short flight from here and the plane was on time but it was disgusting, like the dirtiest planes i have ever been on and the landing was one of the worst, like i was sure we were going to slide right off the runway.