The Squish In The Skies
With turn-arounds at airports now down to minutes and basic food service almost entirely scrapped in order for airlines to squeeze more pennies out of every fare, airplanes have become filthy with the rotting refuse of a thousand carry-on McDonald's sack lunches.
The New York Times has a great look at the issue, particularly in regards to Delta, which had let its deep cleaning schedule plummet from 30 days to 15-18 months, leading to experiences from fliers like this...
"You put your hand in the seatback pocket and there's an open McDonald's ketchup container in there," said Joe Brancatelli, a frequent flier who runs an advice Web site for business travelers. Tidiness
Way to link him, by the way, New York Times. We'll do it for you. His site is The Thoughtful Traveler. Consider it a side compendium to our favorite frequent flyer site, Upgrade Travel.
Beware of the Squish Behind the Jet Seat [NY Times]
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Comments:
For short-attention-span folks like me, this post isn't entirely fair to Delta. The article goes on to say that
Two cleaning contractors were fired for slipshod performance. Deep cleaning - an intense and precisely scripted process of brushing, scrubbing and vacuuming - now occurs at least every 30 days on Delta planes, bringing Delta up to par. A crew of auditors checks up on the cleaners.
Still, don't get me started on the blankets and pillows. Bleagh...
I saw a bit on t.v. the other day where a woman claimed she saw a tick on a blanket provided on her flight. I've never been one to get easily cold, but now I definitely don't want to use their pillows and "blankets."
While taking my seat last weekend, I saw lying on the cushion a piece of fingernail. Well, I guess it was a fingernail. Now THAT'S the reason they shouldn't allow nailclippers on airplanes.
God, I hope it wasn't a toenail.
ATA was the worst. Once had to fly NYC to Denver in a seat that smelled of urine. Was a full flight, and couldn't change seats.
My own version of hell.
While the airlines obviously need to do a better job with this stuff, the fact remains that a lot of people are swine.