An American Airlines passenger boarded to a biohazard – and was forced to clean it themselves. The airline only reluctantly supplied gloves to do the dirty job.
The one good thing that was supposed to come out of Covid was we were going to get better cleaning and ventilation of public spaces. But we never really did ventilation of filtration of buildings, hotels stopped cleaning rooms as often to save money on housekeeping, and airlines stopped handing out sanitary wipes and keeping up their cleaning regimens.
Pressed to keep planes in the air – they don’t make money when aircraft are on the ground – they schedule very little time between aircraft arrival of one flight and departure of the next. That leaves very little time for cleaning crews to tidy. And you often see messes from the previous flight just left for the next customer:
Hey @AmericanAir do you normally force your passengers to clean the shit off their seat that they paid extra for? Literally had to ask the attendant for gloves so I could clean this up myself. 10/10 customer service pic.twitter.com/p8Bih5s1Wp
— banished meg (@megsfrompluto) August 23, 2025
Customers really are left on their own. It’s not the flight attendant’s job to clean (except on Southwest!). ‘Clean it yourself’ is not an uncommon take on American Airlines.
This was waiting for me in my seat on my last @AmericanAir flight. I guess they do not clean anymore. pic.twitter.com/KUZMzxDYGU
— David Schwartz (@SchwartzMaster) July 22, 2025
The inflight team did not handle it. We had to ask more than once for a garbage bag to clean it up ourselves.
— David Schwartz (@SchwartzMaster) July 23, 2025
But the real problem here – if you’re going to have to tidy up after the last flight to save American Airlines money on cleaning – is that American also slashed the number of gloves they have onboard flights for flight attendants in a cost-saving measure.
“From this point forward, service gloves should only be worn during trash pickup” according to a memo that went out to all flight attendants.
They’ve been boarding only one box with 12 pairs of gloves per flight, with gloves reportedly missing entirely from drawers frequently on many flights.
That means no more gloves for lavatory checks – and therefore skipping lavatory checks – which means no more wiping counters if wet, restocking toilet‑paper and seat‑covers.
Worldwide, a typical single‑aisle aircraft carries 100–150 pairs: half in the forward galley, the rest split between each service door and the medical kit. Bear in mind that reuse is a safety violation because pathogens adhere to the exterior of the gloves.
When CEO Robert Isom took over the airline, his first message meeting with employees is that they should ‘never spend a dollar they don’t have to.’ It’s a message he’s repeated. This kind of thinking, that permeated the ranks of Northwest Airlines (where Isom cut his teeth, and many of the airline’s executives once worked), has been internalized.
The initial case presented represents a potential public health issue. A restaurant, for instance, would never get away with declining to clean a biohazard and continuing to serve customers. Regulatory responsibility for public health issues for aircraft on the ground is complex and often unclear, but episodes like this should be reported to the local public health department, FAA and CDC.
AA has gutted everything customer facing in an effort to save money. In the process, they have given passengers every reason to book away from them. That’s not to say the other major carriers are much better. There are good reasons I carry disinfecting wipes in my carry on these days.
At this point, I feel like American and Spirit both need to go into bankruptcy just to prove to the industry once and for all that the ULCC model simply doesn’t work. You can’t save yourself into success as an airline.
@greggb57. Exactly . Everything CUSTOMER facing they didn’t cut back on CEO or executives pay,.. And I would like to know Isom’s definition of “have to” in * don’t spend a dollar you don’t HAVE TO”
Being a depression era parent, my Dad never understood the concept that sometimes you have to spend money to make more money. “Dad, we need a computer system.” “No, our bookkeeper is doing just fine! Clean off her green visor cap!” We finally got a decent IBM system. He wouldn’t admit that it helped. So, here’s American trying to squeeze a nickel until the “buffalo craps” by not investing in something that will enhance customer satisfaction, show off a clean and welcoming cabin experience oh…and get rid of the “buffalo crap” left by previous passengers. Ignorance can be corrected. Stupid (which incident is!!) is forever. Again, American is climbing its way to the bottom!
Isom and Steenland were two of the most despised execs at Northwest.
They made Mr. Nyrop look like a spendthrift.
Part of their push toward a premium experience.
“Clean. Your. Planes.” One of Gary’s favorites. Shame on American here, but it can happen on any of them.
United remains the only US carrier that still hands out complimentary sanitizing wipes when you board their aircraft.
While I would prefer every airline properly hire, train, pay, and support dedicated cleaners for each and every flight, I recognize it’s not ‘possible’ everywhere, but at least United cares enough to give us the option to tidy up ourselves when needed.
At the very least, use those wipes to clean your phone; the germs on our screens. Yikes.
So, yeah, it’s the little things…