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.
Only the best slop is served in United Clubs.
Tomorrow when I visit one of AA’s really bad PHX clubs I’ll appreciate this story.
Worse yet, winter is coming, so, when the Texas power grid inevitably fails, yet again, they’re gonna need to turn those roaches into ‘protein blocks,’ Snowpiercer-style.
Could it be that this happens at other lounges too, but we just don’t see the roaches?
So it’s up there with Centurion in cleanliness it would appear?
Never, ever, ever, ever, ever look in the kitchen of an eating establishment. Nothing good comes of that. I’m perfectly content to not know what’s happening back there. I just move on faith that because I am not a germaphobe and I get vaccinated my immune system will do its thing.
This is half the restaurants in America
It’s amazing what people put up with.
If it happened at a persons house they would be banished from the social calendar.
ewwww.
@1990
you must love old news stories about power grids? Time to get some new data 😉 The world is bigger than NYC
“…operated by our third-party vendor.”
Just own it. It’s your club. They also like pull this crap whenever Skywest or Endeavor does something stupid. Look, the airplane is painted in YOUR colors with YOUR logo on the tail, it’s YOURS.
Let’s face it… many of those issues are related to structural problems that cannot be corrected w/o shelling out a lot of money.
UA simply does not get enough premium revenue at DFW or PHL to justify huge expenses. Sodexo might run the operation but UA has to pay the bills including for facility upgrades.
and, no, not all restaurants have facilities like this. Far too many do but there are people that run their food service operations with integrity and have invested in the physical infrastructure to prevent stuff like this from happening.
@MaxPower — Okie dokie. Perhaps, Milwaukee in winter is more ‘Snowpiercer’ than Texas, anyway. And, they have that Art Museum building by the same architect (Calatrava) as the Oculus in NYC. Already looks like the ‘train’ from that film with snow/wind passing it.
1990, really? Fukc off with your tiny balls.
They shouldn’t have to shut down. A fine of USD 100 will suffice to show them the errors of their ways.
Hi @MaxPower! I assume the “old news” you’re referring to is the Texas power grid failure in 2021. As someone who lives in central Texas (approx. pop. 500,000), and was without power for 17 days in 2021, I can tell you it was a legitimate catastrophe. As for new data, there has been at least one multi-day power outage here every winter since 2021 (also before, but that would be old data). Very little has been done to fix the problems, meanwhile the state has been actively bringing large power-hungry data centers and bitcoin miners to the area.
It all comes down to to premium revenue
@Tim Dunn – do you have any data to back up the claim about UA’s premium passenger numbers at out-stations?
I ask because I actually fly to DFW regularly, do so on UA through IAH and buy a premium ticket. When I’m in the United Club it’s always reasonably busy. Everyone in there has either paid for a club membership or gets it through the premium credit card. Seems like there is enough volume to justify its existence. Staff there are lovely.
THAT ASKED, United’s clubs are far more inconsistent than DL or AA. On one hand you have DEN and EWR with killer lounges. Then there’s IAD and most of IAH where the lounges are overcrowded, outdated and serve horrible food. At least AA is consistently terrible with nice clubs being the outliers.
Parker,
my comment is based on UA’s size in other airline hubs and the size of the lounge they have. UA has grown its presence outside of its own hubs but part of their network problem is their low penetration in domestic markets outside of their own hubs; the investment in their new lounges in their hubs mirrors their network.
AA and DL have better network strength across their network while DL has pushed on building clubs in medium sized competitive markets which are often some of its best
@Oscar
I think you’re quite well aware that the outages you’re describing are extreme outliers for the mentioned times.
@Courtney — Since you brought up the relative size of balls, that reminds me, how’s ole Ed ‘Big Balls’ Coristine doing these days? (DOGE hacker with the grandfather KGB double-agent.) Thought he resigned from the GSA in June, but was then rehired in a different role with the SSA; in August, a whistleblower alleged that he uploaded SSNs of 300 million Americans to a vulnerable server. What a guy. Oh, also around then, he did got beat-up by some teenagers in D.C., remember? Then #47 used that incident as the pretext to federalize the city’s police force and deploy the National Guard. What. A. Guy.
@ Parker: I agree with you. @ Tim Dunn often makes things up and presents them as facts. I fly into and out of PHL on purchased F tickets and find the club here well-utilized. There seems to be enough of a market to keep the PHL club! I also see few upgrades clearing so UA is selling a lot of F seats and/or smartly monetizing those F seats into/out of this market.
Gregg,
no one says that UA doesn’t carry SOME premium customers even out of other airline hubs, some of which use their clubs.
But UA simply carries a much smaller amount of traffic out of AA and DL hubs than the other way around.
the fact that UA has small and dated clubs in its outstations just makes it much easier to fill them but doesn’t change that UA’s network and its clubs are far more heavily concentrated in its hubs. Gary said as much so why don’t you argue w/ him.
@GREGG — 100%. Generally, Tim is just a simple shill for Delta; but, also, he’s more insidiously against better treatment for workers and consumers. It’s sad, because he flies plenty and likely knows better. Yeah, typical that he’d deflect to personal attacks or blaming United/American. Psh.
DFW is my home airport and I use the club regularly. Now that it’s closed, UA is providing a food voucher on departure days as a gesture to a departing club member. That’s at least something.
1990,
this has nothing to do with American.
Gary himself ACCURATELY notes that the gap between UA’s clubs in its hubs and its non-hubs is far greater.
Tell us the size of airline clubs at DFW and I can assure you that DL’s is far larger, nicer and cleaner than UA’s – and DFW is not a hub for either.
Now repeat the same exercise for every non-hub airport and DL by far leads both AA and UA in non-hub airports.
Some of you struggle so hard to admit reality which anyone that objectively deals w/ reality knows.
DL has invested in premium travel and a broader domestic network far more so than AA or UA. THAT is why DL has more SkyClubs with more square feet not just compared to any other US airline but compared with any airline in the world.
If you could accept facts, I wouldn’t need to keep spouting facts which only prove not only how wrong you are but how good DL actually is – all of which is prompted by your own willingness to accept basic facts w/o arguing.
Someday, you will learn
Yikes, unacceptable for any lounge regardless of affiliation.
@1990 @Tim Dunn @Matt — Somewhat related to the ongoing conversation, I’m hoping to have an elevated and thoughtful experience at the MSP G17 Delta SkyClub today. (And finally get my $49 premium snacks, @1990!)
@Tim Dunn — Oh, you think I’m playing the ‘this carrier is better than the other carriers’ game.
Naw, to me, it’s mostly about consumer protections, workers rights, and callin’ out bigots. And, I do prefer Ukraine and Taiwan (ROC) to remain independent and free. Those’r some top-of-mind issues for me. And, those don’t go away with time, unless and until the wars are over, #47 is out, there’s flight attendants union at DAL, and an EU261-equivalent. Then, and only then, I can rest, but just a little, because a lot of clean-up afterwards, even if if all comes through.
Bud, I still prefer Delta over American and United (but it’s kinda like Coke vs. Pepsi there); that said, I really like what jetBlue has done with Mint, transatlantic, specifically, and just wish they had lounges and flew to more places (that product is like an espresso martini to me). Good stuff.
@L737 — Enjoy! That sounds delightful! “Let (him) eat Biscoff!”
no, 1990, it is not about a general who is better among all airlines.
It is simply about standard airline clubs, esp. in non-hub cities.
UA has invested alot in its clubs in its hubs but very little in its non-hub cities. DL has invested in both.
AA has invested very little in clubs but mostly in its hubs.
If it comes down to standard clubs, yes, DL leads the big 3 and has for years.
again, just the simple question regarding clubs at DFW. Is DL or UA’s larger and have better service? Has DL’s ever been closed for health violations?
just the facts, ma’am
@Tim Dunn — Oh, in that case, 100%, it’s Delta’s SkyClubs over United Clubs and Admirals Clubs, nearly every time. As for DFW, I’m gonna defer to folks who’ve been there more recently. I’ve been through AUS (Delta) and IAH (United), more so, and when I was last in DFW, I went to Amex; if I were to route through there soon, I’d probably prioritize the new Chase lounge.
I don’t think your description is accurate! Visited DFW club many times and never saw any dirt or crumbs around also it was renovate just after covid ! Nice size club for a small station! Very bright eith big windows to the tarmac! Nice variety of food!
“Alleged” cockroach. lol. Afraid of UAL suing you it seems!
I’ve visited that club many times and enjoyed the experience. Heck, I was at the club in PHL 2 weeks ago. They’ll recover.