Why You Should Never Wear Shorts or Skirts on a Plane: Flight Attendant’s Warning

Flight attendants have an important warning for passengers: for the sake of your hygiene, never wear clothing that leaves your legs exposed when flying, according to The Independent.

Charity Nelms, a former contestant on Survivor 48 who worked as a flight attendant for 11 years, strongly advises against flying in shorts, skirts or dresses.

“I’m telling you this as a flight attendant: you have no idea what I’ve seen on these seats,” she said in a TikTok video. “Wear pants. No shorts, skirts or dresses. Long pants only. You do not want any exposed skin touching that seat. I don’t care if you get on the plane and disinfect it. No, no, no. Wear pants. Trust me, I have seen some absolutely demonic things.”

Sher Killough, a Dallas-based flight attendant, shared a similar warning about wearing shorts.

“Guess how many diapers were changed on the seats during one flight I worked yesterday? Four. Guess how many of them had poop in them? All four. Right on the seat. And you want to rub your skin against that?”

How Are Airplane Cabins Actually Cleaned?

Most aircraft undergo only a quick turnaround cleaning between flights. According to John Alford, vice president of ABM Aviation, an aircraft servicing and cleaning company, this type of cleaning primarily focuses on “the galley areas, making sure the lavatories are clean, and removing trash from the cabin and passenger areas.”

Aircraft operating long-haul flights, typically lasting eight to 10 hours, and remaining overnight at an airport undergo overnight cleaning.

“This type of cleaning is more thorough, with a focus on the passenger areas around the seats,” Alford explained.

Deep cleaning — which Alford compares to detailed car detailing, where seats and interior components are partially removed — is carried out far less frequently.

Other Dirty Areas Inside an Airplane

In her video, Nelms also pointed out another heavily contaminated surface that passengers should disinfect immediately after boarding:

• Seat belts: “The metal part, because everybody touches it. And you need to wipe down the fabric part of the seat belt too, because people are constantly pulling on it. You have no idea how much vomit, baby spit-up, bodily fluids and spilled drinks end up on these seat belts. Make sure you wipe them down.”
• Lavatory floors: Nelms strongly urged passengers to stop walking into airplane bathrooms in just their socks. “There is never just water on the floor of the lavatory, my loves. Your socks are basically two giant sponges.”

The takeaway?

When it comes to flying, a little paranoia may actually be a sensible approach. Wear pants, wipe down your seat belt and never walk barefoot — or in just your socks — inside the lavatory.

You will never know exactly what happened on that seat before you sat down. And judging by flight attendants’ stories, perhaps it is better that you don’t.