Experience 030. Dirty Thirty. COVID-19 and Cleanliness on Airlines. The Seat 1A Podcast.

We wanted to extend our best wishes to all those in the industry during these incredibly challenging times for the aviation industry. The entire COVID-19 situation has brought about some strange occurrences. During this time of global self-isolation, we invite out listeners to go back to our previous experiences – since eventually, planes will start flying again. We had planned to talk about airline cleanliness in an episode – this has provided us the perfect opportunity. Remember everyone that an airline is a public space, but that we do expect it to be comfortably clean when we board. How do different airlines groom their planes – outsourced to third parties, or does the crew groom the plane? When a crew groom the plane what happens? What gets cleaned? What was Vinod's bone of contention that he got so often on flights? Deep cleaning is supposed to happen on a certain cycle. First flights out of the day from Canada to the US lead to interesting discoveries. What about premium cabins? How about carpeting on the plane? Geoff and Vinod review a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news investigation about the dirtiest surfaces in an airplane. The filthiest location may surprise you and we review the five most filthy locations. It's not all dirty though. There are airlines that consistently get recognition for their cleanliness. Airlines do need to deal with different cultural practices where individuals may not be aware of airplane etiquette. And as always - passengers do silly, gross things on flights no matter where in the world. Remember that a plane may be a bit dirtier due to their turnaround time business model. We share some tips on how to try to stay as clean and sanitary as possible on a flight. There is no need to be paranoid – once again remember it's a public space. If you have a story about how you are dealing with COVID-19 as a passenger or flight staff, a question, or other experience about airplane cleanliness that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/