Boston woman gets onto 12-hour flight, is horrified when she sees her seat: ‘Wipes are not going to fix that!!!’

TikToker Sarah just walked into a torture room for a germaphobe. On a recent Iberia Airlines flight, the Boston native discovered a grimy, dirt-covered seat. Considering she has 12 hours of flying time awaiting her, she grimly removed her phone and filmed a now-viral TikTok post.

She starts off the video by staring at the camera. Then she pans the camera down a blue leather headrest coated in a thick layer of greyish grime. She included on-screen text that read, “POV: This is your seat for a 12-hour-long flight.” In the video description, she added two vomit emojis and wrote, “Seriously tho, what’s going on with this plane!”

The post has amassed over 2.7 million views, and viewers were quick to express their disgust with the state of the cabin. One person remarked, “I would get a flight attendant and complain,” while user Beat By Kee 💗✨ asked, “Ew what airline is this???” Regarding the lack of cleanliness, user8614348758341 stated, “Wipes are not going to fix that!!! We need disposable seat covers with a sticky backing.”

Time to just burn your clothes after the flight

The viral video also prompted insights from those familiar with airline operations. One user explained that planes often have less than five minutes for cleaning between flights, stating, “I know it sucks, but planes are not cleaned,” and added, “They collect trash and will clean heavily soiled areas if pointed out. That’s all.” 

Another former flight attendant confirmed this, saying, “As a former flight attendant: we land, we deplane, and we board. There’s really no cleaning in between until the plane is done for the day. And that’s ONLY if it lands at a hub.”

This lack of deep cleaning is a recurring theme for many travelers. Reviews for Iberia on TripAdvisor reflect similar dissatisfaction, with one user calling the interior “uncomfortable and unclean” and another noting it looked “like they didn’t clean in between uses.” 

These reviews, unfortunately, align with broader industry practices. Crews are often limited to 30 to 40 minutes to vacuum and clear trash, leaving deep cleaning for much longer cycles or when the flight stops for the day. They don’t even clean the coffee pots regularly.

Considering these cleaning protocols, it isn’t surprising that Sarah found a seat that was so dirty. She is also not the only person to highlight these issues on social media. One user even got into his flight, only to find the cushion of the seat detached. TikTok user Jeanie, who was in business class, noticed that, just like Sarah, her seat was incredibly dirty. In her video, one user, the_real_dapap, hit the nail on the head, saying, “airplanes are never clean.”

So where do you go from there? Well, quite a few users had some functional advice to at least help you complete your trip. hhdd830 responded to Sarah with a straightforward strategy, saying, “I always bring bleach wipes for this reason.” Blake Mitchell4780 had a different strategy, “One of the reasons I started wearing a hoodie when I fly, I don’t my hair touching the seats 😅.”

However, the one comment that resonated with me the most was by EleanorKerry78, who joked, “What airline is this so I can use a hot air balloon to travel instead.”