Video of roaches on Spirit Airlines is going viral, with around 4 million views in the first 24 hours since being posted to Twitter.
Never again will I fly @SpiritAirlines . I've flown over 500,000 miles on Delta and have never in my life seen roaches on a plane this is crazy. pic.twitter.com/gIIMHpsOG9
— Symoné B. Beez (@SymoneBeez) May 11, 2025
And here the passenger talks about their experience. The passenger didn’t expect that “The Big Front Seat” would come with “the big roach as well.” It wasn’t until the second roach that they spoke up. “The flight attendant did not care whatsoever.”
@symonebeez Roaches on Spirit Airlines. Mother's Day surprise flight. #spiritairlines #travel #fyp #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo ♬ Classic classical gymnopedie solo piano(1034554) – Lyrebirds music
This is important context, I think. (HT: H.) It’s not so much the airline as the passengers bringing roaches on, though different airlines will treat their pest control budgets differently.
The main area that causes fliers to see bugs on the plane are from the overhead luggage. If a traveler has bed bugs or roaches in their carry on, inevitably some may get out and potentially seen by other travelers.
…The more individuals who live in roach infested homes/apartments, the more likely they are to carry bugs on the plane and for a few of those insects to get out of their carryon and scurry around for others to see. I was involved in the Delta contract for my company and Delta does not play when it comes to pest issues. They’ll shut a plane down from flight if a major issue is found.
I’ve written about the American Airlines 777 ‘Roach Coach’ where 9 bug bombings weren’t enough, and returned to Tulsa in order to get “completely torn apart so that we can finally put an end to this infestation. The seats, carpets, lavs, galleys, floorboards- everything is coming out.” Those 777s travel around the world, bringing people and possessions and anything that attaches to either. All airlines face challenges with pest control. I covered the 2023 updated American Airlines cockroach procedure as well:
No amount of pest treatment seems to solve gate lice, however.
So, the lesson learned is, only fly between high class, clean neighborhoods?
At least the gate lice want the boarding process to go quickly. The cockroaches seem to be willing to board at a more leisurely pace.
Quite frankly, I’d rather fly with actual roaches than some of the people flying these days. Besides, roaches have been around longer than us and they’ll be here long after we’ve destroyed ourselves. Kinda hard to hate on them…unless you’re more concerned about germs than I am (and I’m admittedly not very concerned).