Should You Worry About Getting Sick From a Plane Flight? Maybe

Should You Worry About Getting Sick From a Plane Flight? Maybe
But a trade group that represents numerous carriers in the United States, Airlines for America, said through a spokeswoman, Alison McAfee, “The safety, security and well-being of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority, and airlines know
that the cleanliness of the aircraft and cabin components is important to customers.”
Michael Taylor, the travel practice lead for J. D. Power, said the company’s airline satisfaction study had found “a significant upward trend in passenger perception
and satisfaction with cabin cleanliness and restroom cleanliness” over the last three years.
that “after incidents when a traveler became ill during a flight, the cabin crew does not always notify them of potentially infectious bodily fluids
that had contaminated the aircraft.” The report concluded that the United States lacks “a comprehensive national aviation-preparedness plan aimed at preventing and containing the spread of diseases through air travel.”
Michael Ostendorf, a senior vice president for aviation operations at ABM, said
that the company cleans a variety of airplanes for United, American, Delta, Southwest and other airlines and that a typical turn time should be 10 to 15 minutes.
A report in 2015 by the Government Accountability Office detailed the “limited time” cleaners have before passengers for the next flight begin boarding, and noted
that cleaners might need to request more time for “additional cleaning necessary to decontaminate the aircraft.” Cleaners told the G. A.O.
Sameer Yousef, a lead cabin cleaner for ABM, one of the companies hired by airlines, oversees a team of four
that cleans United airplanes at San Francisco International Airport.