United Airlines Closes DFW Airport Club — Photos Show Roaches, Mold and Serious Sanitation Issues

United Airlines has closed its DFW Airport Club after reports of severe sanitation issues. Photos shared with me show roaches in food-service areas, mold, standing water, and widespread back-of-house conditions inconsistent with basic cleanliness and food-safety standards.

There are some absolutely stunning United Clubs. I think the three in Denver are fantastic, and Newark C123 is nice. Their Dallas – Fort Worth club is often rated as one of the worst. It’s small, cramped, and chronically overcrowded. Food is weaker than United Club standard. And it’s tired, the lighting isn’t great, and shows its wear.

Unfortunately it appears not to have been kept very clean, either, especially in the kitchen and back of the house. The Sodexo-operated facility has had several serious sanitation concerns. The lounge is currently closed there. Here are issues that have been reported:

• Roach infestation throughout kitchen, bar, and buffet service areas
  
• Mold growth and black liquid seeping from floors and pipes
  
• Leakage and rust near the walk-in cooler areas
  
• Lack of ventilation in the kitchen, causing heat, fumes, and odors to accumulate and contributing to employee illness
  
• Unsanitary food-handling conditions that may expose customers to contaminated food

In addition, there has been a report of persistent sewer-like odor throughout the kitchen and food service areas, and an accusation of falsification of food-safety training records, sanitation logs, and temperature-monitoring documentation.

Here you’ll see a small brown insect adjacent to plated dessert on a buffet. The shape, size, and coloring seem consistent with a cockroach. Food crumbs and residue are present on the pan rim and counter.

This looks like a cockroach on the counter. The smear and residue around the insect suggests it was crushed there. There is visible dried food splatter on the counter face and crumbs on the servery ledge.

Here you’ll see an open floor drain below copper/other service lines with plastic, paper, food scraps, and hair in and around the drain. There appears to be an active drip from piping near the drain – a classic breeding setup for drain flies and roaches.

This photo shows a wet floor with pooling, multiple rust rings, and rusting near base of a stainless equipment panel. This suggests repeated leakage and prolonged moisture on the floor.

There’s a pest monitoring glue trap present here and one appears to contain dark specks that ocould be roach nymphs. This is also cluttered in a way that impedes cleaning.

You can see multiple drain/discharge lines terminating into a floor sink, with standing black, viscous liquid and food particles. This commonly produces strong odors and supports pest activity.

This video shows what appears to be a live, light‑brown cockroach climbing near back of house shelving.

The United Club at DFW has reportedly had flies or fruit flies in the past, accoding to a Tarrant County inspection. It’s also been described as overcrowded, dirty, poorly maintained, and smelling like seafood despite none being served there, along with dirty floors and poor restroom conditions (e.g., hair, limited working stalls).

And this issue comes after the Sodexo-run United Club at Philadelphia was closed at the end of September when inspectors documented fly activity and other violations (like lack of hot water at a hand‑wash sink).

I reached out to United about these issues, and a spokesperson shared,

Safety for our customers is our top priority. Our DFW United Club received a perfect score in a health department inspection on August 14. We proactively closed the club on Nov. 9 to address concerns within the space operated by our third-party vendor. We look forward to welcoming our customers back as soon as those issues are fully resolved.

The story that’s been going around is that the club was closed due to damage from a water leak. I’m glad to see that it’s being addressed.