Dirty Airplanes: Passengers Complain About Garbage on Airliners

A while back, I was reading a newspaper article regarding passengers complaining about trash left on airplanes when they board the aircraft. There seemed to be a lot of concern about the aircraft not being sanitary, not to mention what's left on the seats from sweaty, bug infested passengers. I have to admit, that I understand the concern over what's on the seats. But, I honestly don't have much sympathy over the trash situation. Airlines spend a lot of money on fuel with rising fuel costs, as well as landing fees at most airports, staffing salaries, aircraft to pay for and maintenance to keep them airworthy. All these fees and expenses are paid for by your tickets you purchase. As seats commonly get cheaper due to the internet, "vacation package deals", and other factors, airlines are forces to cut operational costs. A lot of times, through pay cuts, serving half cans of soda rather than a full can, no more meals, and no more peanuts we all love so much, unless you want to PAY for them in addition to your ticket. SOMETIMES it even means cutting budgets in other areas just so that the airline can survive. Unfortunately, cleaning staff is not immune to budget cuts.

I am an First Officer on a small regional airline. On our aircraft, we don't operate with flight attendants. Most of the airports we service do not have staff to clean the cabin of the aircraft after each arrival,so, the first officer is responsible for clean-up of the aircraft's interior in addition to the other duties you would expect a pilot to have. Most of the time, we have 30 minutes or less from the time of arrival to clean the cabin, pre-flight the aircraft, copy weather and takeoff clearances, supervise baggage loading and fueling, and assist passengers boarding. The Captain has a whole other list of duties in addition to take care of between flights. Sure, there are ways any airline in these circumstances can spend a great deal of money for regular cleaning crews. But you as a passenger can also help alleviate the situation.

It never fails. After each flight, passengers will leave "souvenir's" for me to clean up after them. Stacks of newspapers, chewed gum stuffed in the seat backs or between the pages of a magazine for me to pick out, orange peels left on the floor or stuffed in the seats, drink containers, greasy burger wrappers, open ketchup packets, cheerios from some kid whose parent lets them have a food fight with a full bag of them, or the occasional child who is allowed to tear up a magazine into little itty-bitty pieces, then throw them on the floor. Yes, even an occasional full bag of URINE or vomit patiently waiting and leaking on the cabin floor. Unfortunately, we do miss some things, as we don't always have a lot of time to clean up after those passengers I refer to as the "slobs". It makes me wonder if these people still live with their mothers who constantly clean up after them, or what their houses look like. I don't understand how people think that just because they spend good money on a ticket, they can be a slob and not pick up after themselves the things they bring on-board. I mean, how hard is it to put it in the sick-sack and take it with you, throwing it away in the next trash barrel your come by. They have those all over the airport now days. It's really no different than sitting down at a restaurant and busing your own table when you're through. I would feel bad if I left my trash on an airplane. I recall one day that I was dead-heading to another airport, watching a passenger stuffing two large newspapers into the seat-back in front of him, along with some other trash. He wasn't happy with me when I said, "Oh sir, don't forget your newspapers". He snapped them out of my hand and stomped off the plane in a huff.

Passengers want to get on-board and off to their destination quickly when their aircraft arrives at the gate. Some don't realize that, for example the major airlines, there are usually cleaning crews that clean out the cabin after an arrival. Sometimes, depending on how many "slobs" are on-board, it can take quite some time to clean to acceptable standards. Sometimes this causes delays in departures for the next set of passengers, elevating blood pressures of the next set of "slobs" that will leave souvenir's at the next destination keeping the cycle going. Imagine how the can affect an airline that doesn't have cleaning crews?

Please understand that we expect there to be an occasional item left behind or forgotten, but come on! Remember the saying, "Your mother doesn't work here". Do everyone a favor and clean up after yourselves. Let's work together. What goes around comes around. You never know. If you're a "slob", you may be the next person sitting in someone else's trash. Who's the first person you're going to cuss out? The last passenger sitting in that seat?

Happy Flying!