Introduction

Frequent fliers are familiar with the many ways your body changes while in a pressurized tube at 40,000 feet: your ears pop, your ability to taste shifts, and you may find it harder to put your shoes back on after a flight. While there are various tricks to combat the last problem, the best advice may be just to keep your shoes on the whole time.

Inadequate Cabin Cleaning

The reason for keeping your shoes on has less to do with compression and more to do with avoiding some potentially icky situations. Generally speaking, airplane cabins are not very clean. Though the air is well-filtered, the cabin cleaning could be as meager as tossing out trash and quickly wiping down high-touch surfaces like lavatory door handles.

Deep Cleaning Frequency

Planes do undergo deep cleaning, but not very often. The frequency varies by airline, but deep cleans typically happen once every four to six weeks. Outside of those deep cleans, carpets are commonly only vacuumed if time allows and spot cleaned where necessary. When something like food, beverage, or bodily fluids spill, the cleaning crew will eliminate the stain but won’t necessarily disinfect the entire area where germs could spread.

Unsanitary Surfaces

Even worse, those liquids on the floor in the lavatory? Flight attendants are not necessarily required to clean them up mid-flight, which means you could be stepping in urine. As travel returns to normal, it wouldn’t be surprising if airline cleaning protocols slipped back into old habits.

Oh, and while we’re discussing germs, the tray tables and armrests are filthy. Tray tables are typically the germiest surface on an aircraft, so put those alcohol wipes to good use and disinfect your space after you board. Also, don’t put your bare feet up on those surfaces — although no passenger should ever do so, out of courtesy to others.