I may never fly again.....

I haven't seen that specific report, but I've seen others which make the very same claims.

The good news - you've traveled before now and lived to tell the tale.

The medium news - if you fly in the US, be prepared for the TSA to inspect your cleaning wipes. Yes, they are allowed. That doesn't always matter. (Personal experience.)

The bad news - I don't see this situation improving anytime soon. Airlines are pressured to turn around flights to make more money. That means that sometimes the cleaning will be minimal at best. I always travel with a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer in my 3-1-1 bag. But this is public transportation. And it's a money making business.

For the past 10 years my wife has insisted on using cleansing wipes on just about every surface, especially important during cold and flu season. The tray tables including the latches, the seat belts, and the arm rests get close attention. Funny thing, we almost always came down with severe colds while traveling but have not had any problems since we have carefully used the wipes. Oh, and we use them to thoroughly wipe our hands after opening the overhead bins or the latches to the toilets. Overkill? Maybe, but suffering with a severe cold while traveling is a thing of the past. Works for us.

On the other hand, after countless long-haul flights, the only time I contracted a cold was when the passenger beside me sniffled, sneezed, blew her nose and coughed all the way across the Atlantic.

Ken, when you go outside your home and open a door to an office, a store, a building, etc,. exactly how sanitized is that door? When you go to the grocery store and head over to the produce section, how many infected and utterly disgusting hands have touched the very orange, grapefruit or banana you are considering buying? When you pay with cash (paper or coins), how clean do you think the bills and metal are that are in your wallet? How do you know that someone hasn't washed his hands after using the toilet prior to touching the cash in your wallet or the book on a bookshelf in your local library or bookstore?

The list goes on. If you choose never to fly again, you might as well choose never to pay with cash, shop in a store, rent a car, live your life.

I've seen too many horrible pictures on Passenger Shaming to not fly without antibac wipes. I'm not a germaphobe by nature, but seeing photos of feet on trays and people changing babies on said trays and 'biological' things people leave in seat pockets - I always wipe down the tray, seat, screen, sometimes in the seat pocket and even the wall if I'm by the window and know I'm going to lean my head on the wall. And I've seen the stories about how often they clean (or don't) the plane - do people really think the attendants have time to wipe everything down between deplaning and reloading? When we fly, they don't seem to have much more than about 45 min between the last person getting off the landing flight and the first people getting on...

I've been wiping down since about 2015. It almost makes you want to wear a Hazmat suit.

Continental I think my friend Ken was being dramatic. 😱

I am with the wet-wipes crowd on planes and trains. At home and around town, I know I will wash my hands often and wash the produce I select, and I am not trapped in a seat for hours.

Another rule: don’t touch your face when you’ve been out touching public places.

There recently was a national news story about germy planes. I'm not a germaphobe and don't "go crazy" at home. I don't typically use heavy cleaning products or wet wipes. I do wash my hands. When people in my home are sick, I'll take extra care to wipe down light switches, phones, remotes, etc., and sometimes will run toothbrushes through the dishwasher. I think there is some value to being exposed to bacteria/viruses to have a strong and functioning immune system. The massive use of antibacterial hand sanitizers and wipes, I think just makes microbes stronger and reduces the tools available to "fight" bugs. The news report was pretty disgusting, but if it's not really dramatic, people won't watch, correct? I always get a flu shot and when I travel, I will usually use an Emergent C type product starting about a week before I'll leave, and because no one wants to get sick on an expensive trip, and airplanes really are pretty much of a cesspool (adding along the concern with the recirculating air) I do wipe down the surfaces where I will "live" for nine hours. Travel is also the only time I carry hand sanitizer.

Continental I think my friend Ken was being dramatic. 😱

Ohhhh! My bad! LOL Sorry about that Ken! Maybe I shouldn't go online too early on a Saturday morning?? :-)

I am with the wet-wipes crowd on planes and trains. At home and around town, I know I will wash my hands often and wash the produce I select, and I am not trapped in a seat for hours.

I'm with Ken and Laurel. And indeed, as many studies have shown, a big reason the germs are so prevalent is because they last so much longer on PLASTIC rather than metal surfaces. So that's another big factor.

Doubtless there are plenty of "germs" to be found inside an aeroplane, just as there are elsewhere. But for an average, healthy adult who has spent their life exposed to germs as part of day-to-day living, are they actually a danger assuming you take normal precautions like washing your hands occasionally?

I used to be part of the germs won’t hurt crowd. But after getting a really bad cold when we flew to Oregon this summer, I’m now part of the anti- germ group. As I get older my immune system isn’t as healthy as it used to be.

I read an article some years ago that said the dirtiest place in the supermarket is the shopping cart handlebar. I don't know that airplanes are any dirtier than restaurant or hotel surfaces or any other public place. Really, does anyone think the bedspreads are washed after every guest or the carpets steam-cleaned ever? Or that bathroom surfaces are cleaned with a disinfectant? I do think it's more likely to catch an airborne bug on a plane because of the sealed space and recycled air.

I've no doubt planes are germy. But so is just about anywhere else outside of a sealed sterile room. Wet wiping everything in sight might make you feel better, but it's not going to sterilize anything. You're just as likely to catch a cold or flu from droplet transmission thanks to recirculated air than from your tray table. And I'm not about to spend all my time on a plane wearing a respirator to avoid that happening. I wash my hands or use a wet wipe and hand sanitizer before eating. And I try not to touch my face without wiping my hands first. That's it, and I've managed to survive long enough to collect my old age pension.

Phrases that tend to contradict what usually follows them:

I'm not a germaphobe, but...

and

I'm not a racist, but...

(The two phrases are not related other than the fact that they are usually uttered by someone who is deeply in denial of the obvious.)

Personally, I'm with you, Emma.

I think there is some value to being exposed to bacteria/viruses to have a strong and functioning immune system. The massive use of antibacterial hand sanitizers and wipes, I think just makes microbes stronger and reduces the tools available to "fight" bugs.

AGreed. I suspect one of the reasons I have almost never been sick is my exposure to germs as a child; doing weird things like putting dirt and rocks in my mouth. I do wash my hands fairly often, but I never use antibacterial wipes and sanitizers. Frankly, of all the reasons I might say "I may never fly again," fear of germs is low on the list, ranking below security lines, passport control lines, cramped seating, and increasing airline fees.

I keep a clean home, and wash my hands a lot with soap, so I care about cleanliness. But, if I worried about the plane, then I would also need to equally take the same level of cleaning to disinfect those dirty airport security trays, the trains, my money, the local buses, the hotel remote (ugh!), and every person who hands me something: “What? The gelato shop has germs?”

I don’t use the seat pocket on the plane; I have a small daybag at my feet.

I do take the wet cloth from the airline attendant for wiping my hands and wash off the tray & touchsceen. And, I make sure I’m taking daily vitamins and Airborne a few weeks before my trip begins and then back at home for a few weeks.

Meh... germs, schmerms. I lick the tray table to build immunity.

Except that anyone that knows me would say I am most definitely not a germophobe, so to say that in most cases its contradictory to start with that statement is inaccurate. I could provide all kinds of examples, but I'll just say I have a friend that goes crazy when I take lemon off a beverage bar and put it in my water. I am rarely sick, I don't have antibacterial cleaning supplies and do not use antibacterial soaps. And people I know that I might consider germophobes, think their behavior is appropriate and would not label themselves as germophobes.

I'll stick to CDC for my education on travel risks. Science over sensationalism.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2018/conveyance-transportation-issues/air-travel

An earlier discussion: link to earlier discussion

I use little packs of alcohol swabs. Emma, it is my understanding that alcohol works differently than anti-bacterial chemicals so it shouldn't contribute to causing drug resistant bugs. There is a small amount of packaging to consider, of course, but that is a bigger problem.

I've read somewhere that the most germ ridden thing we experience traveling is the remote control for a hotel's television.

I read that article too, Ken.
Ick.
Am going to London in a few weeks, and I'm going to make more of an effort to clean up my space before we take off.
If people don't want to use the seat pocket, bring a small garbage bag with you and drape it in and over the pocket.
A bit of overkill; but I've seen people put diapers, used tissues, etc in those pockets!!
Another article I read said that the tray you put your stuff in to go through security at the airport has plenty germs in there too.
I used to always get sick after a long flight.
Now I take either ColdFX or Ki (in the health food store) for 3-5 days pre trip; and wash , wash, wash my hands when I can in flight.
Sounds like a silly thing; but Polysporin ointment round the nose has helped too.
I'm not paranoid, but I was a nurse!!

This may help: During the flight consciously avoid putting your hands/fingers on your face, especially in your mouth, nose or near your eyes. And some travelers use a hand sanitizer after emerging from the plane lavatory; if care is taken sanitizer can generally be used where the odor will not affect others.

S Jackson (and others!), thank you for some great advice; especially about lining that awful seat pocket with a small garbage bag! I don't use Polysporin but Aquaphor. It comes in a tiny travel size and works for me even all through the very, very dry Colorado winters. It was recommended to me by my veterinarian (why not?) and also works better than anything else I have used for preventing bloody noses.

Had a guy behind me sneezing and snorting the entire flight. A day or so later I got sick as a dog.

I don't like flying during the winter cold and flu season. I seem to often sit near someone who is ill.

For years I'd put liquid sanitizer in my 311 bag but it just took up space. I do take some wipes but not sanitizing wipes. I'll use facial ones on my face and hands, and the tray table.

As proof of my "not a germaphobe" street cred, tonight I saw the bartender subtly use a straw to fish something out of the drink he'd just made for me. I figured it was a fruit fly and drank up.

The worse to me on this video was the smears on the blanket though the blanket came out of a sealed wrapper.

An airplane is no dirtier or germier than anyplace else we experience on a a daily basis. In fact, it is probably cleaner.
When was the last time that menu you picked up in a restaurant was cleaned or the salt shaker or the chairs and plastic booths? The handrail on the escalator, the elevator button, the clothes hangers in your favorite store, every can or package you pick up in a grocery store, every door you open all day long? If you ride public transportation, it is lots worse.
Want to talk sponges? How many of you nuke your sponges every day? If not, your kitchen is germier than any toilet.
I don't ever use hand sanitizer and hate it when groups of people pull them out at restaurants. The smell ruins my appetite. Go to the WC and wash your hands with some soap. That is enough.
If you catch a cold after flying, you probably picked up the germs before or after. They take a while to incubate. The air on a plane is filtered and probably of a higher quality than what we breathe on a daily basis.

Just dab a little hand sanitizer on your hand before eating or touching your face. Getting sick during vacation is not fun. Assume every doorknob or surface has a virus on it. Takes seconds and is cheap. Win win.

I'm totally with Ms. Jo. This is little more than media hype over a complete non-story. Daily life is full of microbiologic risk and exposing yourself to some microbiologic risk is probably a good thing because it gives your immune system something to do (which MAY be beneficial for avoiding autoimmune disease). Common sense things like washing your hands before you eat make sense (though I usually don't do this on planes or vacation in general unless a bathroom break immediately precedes the meal). Wiping down your airplane "space"? A bit excessive, in my humble opinion, and something this pediatrician would never do and would not encourage others to do. To my knowledge, I've gotten sick on a plane exactly once -- when a snotty, coughy 9-mo-old lap child sat next me, with the mother pointing him in my direction; no wipe is going to fix that.

Airplanes can't be much worse than hotel bedspreads & their carpeted floors, taxis . . . and seats at the movie theaters, etc. What really grosses me out is seeing books and magazines set down on the floor of a restroom stall, by that patron, at the airport.

I mean - I just don't wanna potentially eat food off a tray that someone has had their feet/dirty baby on. And even if the tray hasn't been subjected to that indignity, a couple times the tray has had sticky liquid spilled on it, so it's nice to know it's clean.

As for hand sanitizer - I can't tell you the last time I used it (I found it dried my hands out the few times I did try it) - I mean, maybe if I used public transport, but none of that in our town. I carry some of those little wet wipes in my purse and if my hands feel particularly dirty, I'll clean em. But it's not something I think about much.

Maybe lick the tray to improve your immune system? Kidding...😀

It's a jungle out there.

Pretty sure my daily subway commute is more worrisome. But I have become careful about Purelling often & never ever ever touching my face unless I just washed my hands with soap & water.

I lessen my chances by flying in the summer since I'm more concerned with catching something from other passengers which in the winter the chances will be greater.....another reason to do a summer trip

A few weeks ago I was on a flight chatting with the FA in the back of the plane when another passenger went into the lavatory.......barefoot. The FA and I looked at each other and shook our heads in amazement.

It seems to be getting worse!

https://www.wnem.com/local-man-finds-dog-feces-on-delta-air-lines-seat/video_95b1c464-4231-53ed-9493-cc4313c07845.html

IMO, the airline should have called in a cleaning crew to take care of that. It probably would have only taken 10-15 minutes and saved a lot of bad PR, as well as the money they've now had to pay the passenger.