A Delta Air Lines flight passenger spraying cleaning disinfectant all over her seat and the surrounding area as soon as she boarded. “She then pulled out a spray bottle of Lysol.”
During the pandemic, before we realized that Covid-19 spread primarily through the air, airlines were assiduously cleaning surfaces. Mostly, they’ve stopped. And they’re in a rush between flights. Carriers barely allow time for cleaners to remove trash from the seats, since they don’t make money when a plane isn’t flying. Ground time is money-losing.
So this passenger took matters into her own hands:
I put my bag under the seat in front of me; mean while she is settling back down into her middle seat. She then pulled out a spray bottle of Lysol…this lady sprays the air, the back of the seat in front of her, and pulls down the tray table to spray it too. People all around are coughing it was so much.
I guess the first question is how did she get the bottle of Lysol through TSA? It’s more than 3.4 ounces! Some of you think TSA actually catches most of the dangerous items going through the checkpoint, too.
Passengers have a zone of personal space on the plane that roughly corresponds to the area of their seat. Within that space, there are all manners of behavior that might come under criticism (usually in the realm of personal hygiene and grooming), but really come down to the discretion of the individual. What’s clearly not acceptable is imposing costs on fellow passengers. Like spraying aerosols in their space.
If you want to sanitize your seat area, do it with disinfectant wipes. Don’t do it with sprays. While air inside of an aircraft doesn’t go very far (thanks to downward air flow and HEPA filtration), disinfectant spray or perfume isn’t going to stay entirely within your area.
Clearly in this case wipes would be a better solution. And to broaden the lesson a bit, don’t bring stinky foods on the plane, either!
Some airports sell barbecue, but saucy ribs aren’t a great idea. Neither is Chinese food to go! Remember that you’re in much closer proximity to other people on a plane, for much longer, than you are at most other times and that requires being mindful of the effect you have on others.
During the pandemic, Delta actually worked with Lysol on cleanliness (so did Hilton, while United worked with Clorox). Or at least on branding cleanliness. So bringing Lysol on board a Delta flight is somewhat on brand. Although the passenger could have kept themselves safe without imposing costs on others this way:
If only the airlines kept up cleanliness as one positive to come out of the pandemic we wouldn’t need to worry about cleaning our own space to kill germs and avoid getting sick, and we wouldn’t send other passengers into coughing fits in the process. Stick to wipes!
This rude passenger should’ve been escorted off the plane.
There were only two positives out of the pandemic. One was remote work being here to stay. The other one was learning that some friends and family I looked up to and respected turned out to be completely cruel selfish asshole sociopaths, and that was good to know.
1. There are plenty of travel/sized disinfecting sprays out there. Or maybe she transferred some into a travel-sized bottle. Let’s not gaslight the TSA without proof they failed to identify an oversized liquid.
2. Most people seems to not understand that exposure to microbes is good AND NECESSARY for a fully functioning immune system.
3. If you are so paranoid about microbes that you have to disinfect everything, maybe you should just stay home.
Was she wearing a N95 mask? If not, she is an idiot. The number one source of covid pathogens are people’s lungs, not what floating in the cabin air or on the seats.
Let me sterilize her carry on bags by tossing them in a fire.
@parker
I prefer a wiped down airline seat and no fecal matter in my food any day. Unnecessary exposure to microbes is generally bad
Lysol comes in little travel sprays that are TSA friendly. You find it in the section of the pharmacy that has all the other travel sized items.
But yes, use disinfectant wipes to clean surfaces on a plane.
@derek what you call “unnecessary” medical professionals and public health experts call routine and normal exposure. Why do I know that? Because I AM a medical professional.
Wanna wipe your seat down? So be it, I could care less. Start spraying the plane down with disinfectant and you’ve crossed the line from being fastidious to being disrespectful to everyone around you, which is the core issue in this situation: the passenger in question seems to only be thinking of themselves. Not people who might have severe allergies or respiratory conditions.
First error: thinking that other people ( specifically Americans) are considerate. A slim majority of people have a minimum of consideration for those around them. But it’s striking. The “it’s all about ME” culture is pervasive in the US.
I hate this spell check program. I wanted to say [ It’s shrinking]. It popped up as ” striking.”
@Michael – I have friends who work for corporations that no longer allow for remote work, sadly. 3/2 hybrid has once again become 5/0.
@parker you are likely a quack medical professional because real doctors just say they are doctors. Maybe you are a quack chiropractor or a bossy physician assistant who pretends to know it all. Careless exposure to bacterial contamination and fecal material is bad. You get enough exposure from daily life. I prefer to sleep in a bed without poop in the sheets.
hey @parker, did you read my initial comments? It is anti-that woman yet you attack me!
@derek disagreeing with you is not an attack and calling me a quack because I choose not to disclose more specifics about my personal life tells me everything I need to know about you.
I can agree with your premise but not the logic that got you there. I’m not sure what airline you fly, but I’m not familiar with passengers crapping all over the seats and tray tables, so I do not subscribe to your false equivalency.
It’s unfortunate you’re not adult enough to understand that and instead choose to attack.
And…while I am not a chiropractor, calling them “quacks” is simply rude and immature. But, hey, you do you.
@Sadly, I also have many friends who work for corporations who are pressuring people to return to work. They can’t enforce it because top management and partners aren’t showing up themselves. We have a hybrid policy and we can all see our bosses constantly on virtual backgrounds. Hybrid is perfectly fine, but there are plenty of jobs now that allow fully remote work, including both mine and my wife’s. Corporations are saying “show up”, and many people are saying “make me”. Now, when the recession hits and unemployment starts then that’s a different story.
I don’t know that they were spraying for Covid. Just (I do agree excessive) cleanliness in general.
It’s true, if one gets little to no exposure to microbes, they have immune problems. And some people who just spray every little thing down are probably spraying enough they do more harm than good.
That said.. I would not care if someone next to me Lysol’ed the seat, the seat back, etc., even if they gave my seat a nice cleaning. Maybe they were sticky and gross! Spraying it into the air is not good (and most people would probably realize this, if they didn’t show them doing that *in some of the TV ads*. ) Just a note — some ads can AND DO show the product they are advertised being used in wasteful ways (besides the spraying cleaners into the air in ads, usually sniffing it with a demented look on their face… the other example off the top of my head, laundry detergents were ads will show using a full cap or just pouring some in, where the product actually has a fill line showing a full cap is like 4-5x the amount for a full load… cynically hoping customers use 4-5x the amount they need to.)
I’m a economyphobic. Ppl seem to have lost their mind especially in certain countries.
Ppl reclining during the entire flight, selfless girls throwing their hair back so that the poor person behind her can’t see the screen.
Nope, it must be business or first. Not because ppl are better but because I’ve more space. Or I simply enjoy staying at home.
I’d accept premium economy if available in Malaysia and Singapore.
Economy in Japan only. And only if it’s an emergency.
It’s a Reddit post, not verifiable. I’d file this under ‘content-farming.’ Anyway, yes to wipes, no to sprays. I still clean up my seat area, but that’s just me. I doubt they pay cleaning crews enough to care (and they certainly don’t give them enough time to do a proper clean). We are certainly not Japan.
Disturbing
I’m one of those who has adverse physical reactions to sprays paints perfumes etc
I can no longer stay in hotels that use too much perfume scent
Marriott has been sued in a class action lawsuit.Chemicals are thought to be cancer causing and cause birth defects
I get physically sick with headaches and other reactions
The passenger should be banned and permanently banned if they repeat the behavior