In reality, the airplanes you fly on won’t be overrun by poisonous snakes or any other type of menacing creature. But, depending on which airline you fly, you might see some pretty ugly things. No, finding crumbs or stickiness in your seat or using an unclean lavatory is not as bad a receiving a lethal snakebite, but it can make you question your choice of airline.
So which airlines are the most likely to fail the white glove test?
Last fall, an extensive survey by SmarterTravel.com revealed surprisingly (embarrassingly?) low scores for legacy carriers in the US. Over 20% of fliers surveyed thought that US Airways had the dirtiest cabins, with American, Delta and United each taking a 15% share of the uncleanliness. With only 5% of the vote, Continental was the cleanest of the big boys. Low cost carriers like Midwest, AirTran and Virgin America earned high marks for their well-manicured seats and lavatories.
There have been rumors from the offices of both Spirit Air and Ryanair that they would introduce some sort of coin-operated pay-to-pee lavatories. Spirit has since opted for advertisements in its bathrooms as a money maker rather than forcing people who didn’t bring correct change to hold it (or worse).
Baggage does not require the same level of sanitation as passengers, but there have been stories of bags being contaminated. This past winter, Delta passengers traveling from Puerto Rico to Denver claimed that their bags were soaked with jet fuel when they picked them up from baggage claim.
Of course there is some good with all the negative. After extensive polling, All Nippon Airways (ANA) decided to designate an all women lavatory on each of its aircraft.
Airlines have also become cognizant of the fact that passengers might be to blame for some of the in-cabin unpleasantness. Earlier this year, a man was booted of a flight operated by Canada’s Jazz Airline for being too smelly. The offender was allowed to fly the following day, after he showed up at the airport with an improved odor.
On a more serious note, major airlines finally seem to be coming to their senses about cabin cleanliness. United, which previously only gave their planes a thorough cleaning twice yearly, is seeking to get back to fundamentals by upping the number of scrubs each fleet-member gets. Other legacy carriers seem to be following suit.
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