DENVER — Thirty-nine million people are expected to fly during the holidays, which breaks down to 2.8 million people every day getting on 49,000 airplanes. Each one of those passengers is bringing the same thing — germs.
A report this month from Travel + Leisure highlighted the dirtiest parts on an airplane according to flight attendants.
The place that took the number one spot was the instruction card in the seatback pocket. Think of all those passengers checking out how things will float in case the flight goes bad. To make things worse, while most parts of the plane are wiped down after every flight, flight attendants say those cards are not.
The second dirtiest part on an airplane was the overhead bin. They're touched by an awful lot of people (and dirty carry-on wheels) and rarely cleaned.
In third place is the tray table. You know, the tray table some people use to lay their head to go to sleep? The tray table where you put your food and drink before putting them in your mouth? It's gross. A similar report on airplane germs from the Washington Post ranks the tray table as the second-germiest spot on the plane.
So you say, I'll just sit down and try not to touch anything. Well, the seat cover covering the seat you sitting in is also on the list. Flight attendants say those only get cleaned or replaced when somebody reports a problem.
Last on the list are the lavatory locks and door handles. The toilets are regularly cleaned, the report says, but not the locks and handles. The Washington Post report named the door handles the dirtiest thing on a plane.
During your holiday travels, don't forget to pack a phone charger, a toothbrush and lots of hand sanitizer.
