A flight attendant has warned passengers about all the “disgusting” things she’s encountered while working on a plane and has shared her top tips for travellers.
In a TikTok that’s been viewed 1.2 million times, Destanie started her video by saying: “Here are things I would never do since becoming a flight attendant.”
![Two photos of a flight attendant from TikTok](https://aeroplanes.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/flight-attendant-reveals-the-things-you-shouldnt-do-on-a-plane-really-disgusting.png)
Never walk around an aeroplane with your shoes off
“I’ve always known that aeroplane floors were gross but I thought if you had like a nice pair of thick socks it would be fine to take off your shoes in the aeroplane. But, it’s not,” she began.
“These aeroplanes are not thoroughly cleaned, they’re just basically like ‘surface clean’, so these carpets are really disgusting. There’s probably remnants of pee or other fluids on there.”
She went on to say that the bathroom floors are also a no-go without shoes, because they are more likely to just be wiped down instead of mopped.
“A lot of the time I walk into the bathroom and there’s literally like pee on the floor because men they won’t flush, and then we’ll hit turbulence and pee will go everywhere.”
During one of her shifts as a flight attendant, she was horrified to find there was even faeces on the walls after a passenger used the toilet.
“So just beware,” she said. “I literally wash my hands like every 20 minutes or so.”
She also told viewers that she’s had “nasty illnesses, sinus infections and two styes in her eyes” and she thinks it’s from touching the aeroplane and then her face.
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Bring sanitising wipes with you
Destanie added that if she were a mum, she wouldn’t let her children touch the floors at all, and says smart passengers bring sanitising wipes to clean immediate surfaces.
“A lot of the time we don’t have the [sanitising] wipes, so bring your own wipes and stuff like that, and wipe down your tray tables and stuff,” she advised. “A lot of the time when they’re flipping those aeroplanes over, they don’t wipe those tray tables down.”
She said it does depend on the airline, but a majority are guilty of not cleaning the tray tables.
![L: Flight attendant holding an orange. R: Flight attendant green screened onto a plane for a TikTok skit](https://aeroplanes.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/flight-attendant-reveals-the-things-you-shouldnt-do-on-a-plane-really-disgusting-1.png)
Eat beforehand or bring your own food
The flight attendant then told followers she would never rely on plane food, saying she prefers to pack her own meal or eat before flying.
“You can’t depend on these flights to have food, and even if they do have food a lot of the time the options aren’t that good,” she said. “When I go to Asia… I always bring two cup of noodles in my bag, because aeroplanes always have hot water.”
This means that even if you don’t like what the airline is serving for dinner or accidentally sleep through the meal service, you can simply whip out your instant noodles and have something to eat.
Never put salt on aeroplane food
Destanie told followers that food served on planes is often unhealthy, and adding salt to the mix can make it even worse.
“Your tastebuds change in the air so there’s a lot of added sodium to the food that they serve in the aeroplane,” she said. “Everything has a lot of sodium in the aeroplane, everything. To put extra salt, oh my god.”
She once saw a man on a flight to Italy pour an entire salt sachet onto his pasta meal and she was horrified.
SHOP:
Always wear sunscreen and use your sunshade
The flight attendant says she would never go on a plane without putting sunscreen on beforehand. “The sun damage on aeroplanes is really intense,” she said. “I always shut my sunshade right when the pretty view is gone.”
She prefers to use the plane lights, and even though natural light is great, she doesn’t want to be “wrinkly as hell” in the future.
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