Don't Touch These Spots On An Airplane

Once a great novelty, air travel is now an average part of life for many Americans, especially during the busiest travel season in the country – the holidays. That said, flying does a number on your body by inhibiting your immune system because of stress, dehydration, low cabin humidity, and throwing off your circadian rhythm if you fly at odd hours. This is why flying for a lot of folks can pose a range of health issues, in addition to less severe (but still irritating) things like dry skin.

Obviously, though, the main concern for health on airplanes has always been germs. The risk of getting sick while flying predominantly stems from touching so many high-traffic surfaces and being in close proximity with hundreds of other people. Many of these locations aren't sanitized frequently enough, so bacteria (which can survive for hours and even days) can accumulate quickly. The lack of sanitization may not be for lack of trying – there are a lot of surfaces on airplanes that are just difficult, if not impossible, to clean thoroughly. When you add the time and cost to constantly clean every surface all day long, the task becomes unrealistic. When you are catering to so many people every day, germs become unavoidable.

In fact, areas of airports and airplanes can be dirtier than even the nastiest places in your house, such as your toilet seat. And after touching one of these surfaces, you might then touch your face, mouth, phone, or even a complimentary pretzel, transmitting germs into your body. You can't necessarily avoid some of these things altogether, but you can try to make hygienic choices around them.

Over the course of 18 flights, 100 samples were taken for a study conducted by CBC. Of the findings, one of the most worrisome samples revealed that E. coli was present in the seatback pocket samples. E. coli is a particularly dangerous bacteria that wreaks all kinds of havoc on the digestive system and intestines. It makes sense why seatback pockets are so dirty. Like tray tables, this is another area a lot of passengers touch without even thinking. And since some of them are mesh, they're incredibly difficult to clean properly.

While some passengers might use seatback pockets to store magazines, books, and other small items, other people stash their trash, chewed gum, used tissues, filled air sickness bags, and even dirty diapers. Even if you would never dream of leaving such nasty garbage in your pocket, it doesn't mean other passengers haven't done it — even on the flight right before yours.

Suffice it to say, overworked airplane crews and cleaning crews don't have enough time to deep clean a plane between flights. That extends especially to areas of the plane that are hard to clean. Seatback pockets are, unfortunately, one of those areas.

So, the good news is that airplane air vents above your seat are markedly cleaner than the tray tables, according to Travelmath. The bad news is that, all things considered, they're still pretty yucky. That's due in part because, like backseat pockets, the vents themselves are difficult and time-consuming to clean. Crews don't have time to wriggle around the crevices of an air vent while doing their quick spot cleaning in between flights.

While the air itself on airplanes is astonishingly clean (cabin air is heavily filtered, brings in outside air, and changes every three minutes), the air vents are not. Think about it: Folks walk through the airport, touching everything from door handles to water fountains to escalator armrest belts. Then, they get on the plane, touching the seats, the backseat pocket, and the belt buckle, before reaching for the air vent to get comfy. Needless to say, you can assume a lot of dirty hands have touched the air vent before you. That might not be the worst news if you're an early flier – though we can't promise they were cleaned overnight, either.

Travelmath found that, on average, these vents have 285 colony-forming units per square inch, more than on the lavatory flush button. Because of this, it's a good idea to use the sanitizing towelettes some airlines hand out, bring your own, or judiciously use hand sanitizer while on the plane. One trick is to adjust the vent with an antibacterial wipe when you first board the plane and then don't touch it again.

It's always the places we think least about that can impact us the most. According to USA Today, the latches on overhead bins are heavily handled but rarely cleaned. That should come as no surprise because those latches aren't in the seating sections, so they probably don't get as much consideration from cleaning crews. Unless you're only bringing a personal item, you'll probably have to touch the overhead bin at some point. You could wait for someone ahead of you to open it, but if you're a jump-up-upon-landing kind of passenger, then the responsibility of opening the overhead bin will likely fall on you.

Airlines have no regulatory body when it comes to sanitation. Although the FAA has policies on airplane cleanliness, the airlines themselves are free to set their own standards and quality control measures, which they then communicate to contractors to do the job. Basically, cleaners clean to get the job done quickly, not to maximize sanitation. You should also keep in mind that whatever germs you pick up from the latch will inevitably get transferred to your suitcase – a good reminder to never put your suitcase on your bed, at home or your hotel.

Aircraft cabins are generally tidied up between flights, but only get vacuumed, wiped down, and disinfected at the end of the day or after overnight or international flights. But for real deep cleaning, most airlines are only able to do that every 30-45 days on average. Just consider how many passengers go through each plane in that time, and imagine how many of them touch the overhead bins.

Many people prefer the aisle so they can stretch their legs and not disturb others if they stand up to use the bathroom, but this location also has its pitfalls. Closer proximity to the aisle also means closer proximity to passengers and airline employees moving through the plane, who often use the back of your chair to steady themselves as they walk, including to and from the lavatories.

Think of how many people you see walking through the aisles during a flight. And then remember how many flights that plane made before yours. That's a lot of people! And most of them have probably touched your seat, leaving all their microscopic germs behind to latch onto you. The aisle seat head rest, in particular, gets a lot of action because people use it for stability when walking through the cabin. Especially during periods of turbulence, there is often no choice but to grab onto the nearest object, which is usually the headrest (unless you're tall and can use the overhead bin for stability, but then you have another set of germs to worry about!).

Even the armrest isn't safe from walking passengers. If people brush against it with their pant leg, they could still leave traces of germs behind. Perhaps they dribbled spit or food, or they pat their half-washed hands dry on their pants instead of using a paper towel.

It's common to come down with a cold or something worse after flying. A popular myth is that the air is being recirculated throughout the plane, creating an incubation of germs. But airplane air is actually constantly being cleaned by hospital-grade filters and replaced by clean outside air. On top of that, air in most planes is circulated from top to bottom rather than from front to back, so you're not breathing in the germs of everyone else in front of you.

In fact, airplane air is generally cleaner than that of most office buildings. That's been true for years, but it has been even more true since the COVID-19 pandemic. Ever since then, airlines have stepped up their air filtration game. Even so, one way to protect yourself from breathing in everyone else's germs is to wear a filtering mask. A cloth mask will work too – certainly better than no mask at all. While it isn't the most comfortable way to travel, it is the easiest way to protect yourself from the one thing you can't personally sanitize – the air.

You can also try giving your immune system some super powers, with strategies like taking vitamin C for a few days leading up to a flight and making sure you get plenty of rest ahead of your flight. While this is no guarantee you won't get sick from the plane ride, it can't hurt either. Plus, who doesn't want an immune boost?