A Delta Air Lines flight passenger spraying cleaning disinfectant all over her seat and the surrounding area as soon as she boarded. “She then pulled out a spray bottle of Lysol.”
During the pandemic, before we realized that Covid-19 spread primarily through the air, airlines were assiduously cleaning surfaces. Mostly, they’ve stopped. And they’re in a rush between flights. Carriers barely allow time for cleaners to remove trash from the seats, since they don’t make money when a plane isn’t flying. Ground time is money-losing.
So this passenger took matters into her own hands:
I put my bag under the seat in front of me; mean while she is settling back down into her middle seat. She then pulled out a spray bottle of Lysol…this lady sprays the air, the back of the seat in front of her, and pulls down the tray table to spray it too. People all around are coughing it was so much.
I guess the first question is how did she get the bottle of Lysol through TSA? It’s more than 3.4 ounces! Some of you think TSA actually catches most of the dangerous items going through the checkpoint, too.
Passengers have a zone of personal space on the plane that roughly corresponds to the area of their seat. Within that space, there are all manners of behavior that might come under criticism (usually in the realm of personal hygiene and grooming), but really come down to the discretion of the individual. What’s clearly not acceptable is imposing costs on fellow passengers. Like spraying aerosols in their space.
If you want to sanitize your seat area, do it with disinfectant wipes. Don’t do it with sprays. While air inside of an aircraft doesn’t go very far (thanks to downward air flow and HEPA filtration), disinfectant spray or perfume isn’t going to stay entirely within your area.
Clearly in this case wipes would be a better solution. And to broaden the lesson a bit, don’t bring stinky foods on the plane, either!
Some airports sell barbecue, but saucy ribs aren’t a great idea. Neither is Chinese food to go! Remember that you’re in much closer proximity to other people on a plane, for much longer, than you are at most other times and that requires being mindful of the effect you have on others.
During the pandemic, Delta actually worked with Lysol on cleanliness (so did Hilton, while United worked with Clorox). Or at least on branding cleanliness. So bringing Lysol on board a Delta flight is somewhat on brand. Although the passenger could have kept themselves safe without imposing costs on others this way:
If only the airlines kept up cleanliness as one positive to come out of the pandemic we wouldn’t need to worry about cleaning our own space to kill germs and avoid getting sick, and we wouldn’t send other passengers into coughing fits in the process. Stick to wipes!
By
By
By
