What is the dirtiest part of a plane? Flight attendant reveals the spot more filthy than the toilets

A flight attendant has revealed the one area in a plane that is dirtier than the toilets because it ‘never gets cleaned’. 

Brenda Orelus, from Miami, USA, who goes by Flight Bae B online, said the seat-back pockets are riddled with ‘germs’ and have no regular maintenance or cleaning unlike the lavatories. 

The glamourous frequent flyer alerted her 98,000 TikTok followers to the alarming fact in a video and said she’s seen passengers put all sorts of things in the pockets from discarded food to used tissues and even dirty nappies. 

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‘Did you know seat-back pockets are the dirtiest surface on the aircraft? They’re dirtier than the lavatories, they’re dirtier than the seat cushions and they’re dirtier than the tray tables,’ Brenda said. 

‘It’s because they’re never cleaned. Unless somebody vomits or there’s something ooey, gooey and pus coming out of there, it doesn’t get cleaned.’

The air hostess said aircraft cleaners will take rubbish and other items left behind out of the pockets but don’t wipe them down. 

‘All of those germs have accumulated and there’s no real regular maintenance or cleaning of those surfaces whereas lavatories are regularly wiped down and  sanitised,’ she said. 

Users expressed their disgust in the comments and many shared what they have seen fellow flyers store in the seat pockets. 

‘I usually put my phone there,’ one shocked viewer wrote and another replied: ‘Same – all the time. After it’s plugged in the charger that’s my phone’s safe space’. 

‘This is very true! I once saw a parent place a used diaper in the seat back pocket,’ a third said and another swore they’d ‘never touch the pocket again’.   

‘Passengers will put eaten sunflower seeds, diapers used tissues, instead of throwing them away,’ one user commented. 

However, a cleaner chimed in to say this wasn’t always the case and the seat pockets are often cleaned after flights. 

‘We actually have two teams for each plane. One takes trash and vacuums the other team deep cleans each one,’ they said. 

Another cleaner agreed saying the seat pockets will generally get sanitised depending on how much time the team has to clean the plane. 

‘Typically you get an an hour and 30 minutes on the bigger airplanes but for quick turns it’s about 15 to 30min with a team of six you aren’t wrong but you aren’t 100 per cent right,’ they explained.

‘It’s supposed to be cleaned but people may skip over it for convince.’

A former flight attended also spilled some industry secrets and shared her top five tips for flying. 

Kat Kamalani, from Hawaii, took to TikTok to reveal why she never boards a flight without packing her own snacks and always declines a tea or coffee when travelling.

Number one on her list is to never board a plane without packing some snacks.

‘You never know what is going to happen,’ she said.

She also revealed she would never drink hot water on an airplane – which means tea and coffee are out of the question.

‘The reason being is because those water tanks are never cleaned. They are disgusting,’ she said.

‘The kettles are cleaned in between flights but the whole (coffee) machines are never cleaned… and they’re by the lavatories,’ she added. 

This has been backed up by the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center at the City University of New York who did a study on the ‘drinkability’ of airplane water.

The study found seven in ten airlines didn’t have good-quality water and recommended people only ever drink liquids from a sealed container during flights.

But an airline maintenance person hit back at this idea, slamming the hostess for her views.

‘Just because you don’t clean the tanks doesn’t mean they aren’t done, we do them,’ he said. 

The third thing on Kat’s list is perhaps the most obvious, with the Hawaii resident insisting that all passengers should ‘always obey the flight attendants and what they say’. 

She also explains that she always looks up hotels, alternative airports and flights whenever she goes on a trip ‘just in case something happens’ and she needs to plan another way home. 

Her final tip is to never ‘divulge too much information – personal information – to someone who is sitting next to you and asking about your life’. 

The former hostess posts about her family life, exotic fruit and videos on health and well being.

But it is her travel videos which most often go viral and create the most discussion in the comments.

The latest video prompted other flight crew members to add their own musts and must nots to the list.

‘I always bring my own blanket – it is freezing on there,’ one woman said. 

‘I always have my toothbrush and toothpaste in my carryon, as well as face and bottom wipes,’ one woman said.

While others said they like to pack a change of clothes including underwear in their carry-on luggage.

‘I always buy food at restaurants and eat in when I get on the plane…I see people’s have around me cause the whole plane smells my food,’ said another.

Another woman said she cringes when people walk around the plane without shoes on.