The average cost of airfare is $428, but does it cover cleanliness? Flight attendants warn travelers of 'throw-up, baby vomit, bodily fluids' and more

That can make an airplane seat feel like a fairly expensive piece of real estate, particularly when passengers may also pay extra for seat selection, checked bags, Wi-Fi and in-flight meals.

But how clean should travelers expect an airplane to be? Flight attendants say that travelers may want to think twice before treating that seat like their own, regardless of what they’ve paid for it.

Charity Nelms, who has worked as a flight attendant for 11 years, recently issued a blunt warning to travelers: Wear pants on airplanes.

“I am letting you know, from a flight attendant, the amount of things I have seen on the seat,” she said in a TikTok video. “Wear pants. Shorts, skirts, dresses, absolutely not. Wear full pants. None of your skin should be touching that seat.”

Her reason? She said she has witnessed what she described as “diabolical things” on airplane seats.

Another flight attendant, Cher Killough, based in Dallas, Texas, shared an equally unsettling example. In a separate TikTok video, she claimed that four diapers had been changed on airplane seats during one of her flights — and all four contained fecal matter.

“Guess how many diapers got changed on the seats yesterday during my one flight?” she said. “Four. Guess how many of those were poopy? All four.”

Airlines do clean planes, but not necessarily after every mess

So, are airlines responsible for cleaning up after passengers?

In a practical sense, yes. Airlines and the companies they hire to clean their aircraft have established cleaning procedures between flights. But that doesn’t necessarily mean every surface gets disinfected after every passenger leaves the plane.

Most airplanes receive what’s known as a turnaround clean between flights. John Alford, Vice President of ABM Aviation, an airline cleaning and maintenance company, previously told HowStuffWorks that these quick cleanings generally focus on areas such as the galley, lavatory, trash removal and the cabin and passenger areas.

For longer flights, aircraft may receive a more extensive overnight cleaning while they remain on the ground.

“This clean is enhanced with a larger focus on the customer areas in and around seats, while continuing to also clean the galley and lavatory areas,” Alford said.

Planes also periodically receive deep cleanings. Alford compared these to the kind of detailed cleaning a car might receive, explaining that portions of seats, compartments, cabinets and storage areas can be removed so cleaners can reach areas that aren’t accessible during a standard turnaround.

But cleaning policies vary from airline to airline. In 2022, The New York Times reported that most major airlines did away with professional cleaning crews during COVID, to prevent the spread of it — and at the time many hadn’t brought them back.

What exactly are passengers paying for?

An airline ticket isn’t an itemized bill for cleaning, fuel, labor and aircraft maintenance. Airlines bundle those costs into the price of transporting passengers. So, technically, passengers aren’t paying a separate “cleaning fee” that entitles them to a freshly disinfected seat. But cleanliness is also part of the basic service passengers reasonably expect when they board a commercial aircraft.

After all, airlines aren’t simply selling transportation in the same way that a bus or subway system does. Passengers are confined to a relatively small space for hours at a time, often sitting inches away from complete strangers — and strapped in with the seatbelt sign switched on. They’re touching those seatbelts, tray tables, armrests, overhead-bin handles, lavatory surfaces and more throughout the flight.

While many passengers use the disinfectant wipes that some airlines pass out upon boarding to wipe down their seats and tray tables, Nelms actually has one other particularly strong recommendation: Clean your seatbelt.

“That metal part because everybody touches it,” she said. “And also, you should be wiping the fabric part of the seatbelt because everybody pulls on that.”