Twelve-hour flights aren’t for the faint of heart, but nothing could prepare this TikToker for what she encountered on an Iberia plane.
Seats are among the dirtiest places on an airplane, but a lot of the time, the filth isn’t immediately obvious. So, TikToker Sarah (@nonstop_sarah) was taken aback by these particular flight conditions.
The short clip was filmed by Sarah on the plane and consisted of her pulling a horrified face before panning the camera to her seat. The on-screen text read: “POV: This is your seat for a 12-hour-long flight.” As for the seat itself, the blue leather headrest was covered in greyish dirt and grime.
In the description, Sarah put two vomit emojis and added, “Seriously tho, what’s going on with this plane!”
The TikToker later confirmed in the comments that she was on an Iberia Airlines flight.
The video amassed 2.7 million views. BroBible reached out to Sarah via Instagram direct message.
How Did Commenters React?
In the comments, viewers were nothing short of horrified.
“I would get a flight attendant and complain,” one wrote. “That’s disgusting.”
“What kind of janky airline are you flying?!!” a second asked.
While a third admitted, “I always bring bleach wipes for this reason.”
But for a fourth commenter, that wouldn’t be enough. “Wipes are not going to fix that!!!” they said. “We need disposable seat covers with a sticky backing.”
Meanwhile, a fifth and sixth commenter confirmed our worst fears: planes really aren’t cleaned all that regularly.
“I know it sucks, but planes are not cleaned,” the fifth wrote. “They collect trash and will clean heavily soiled areas if pointed out. That’s all. The cleaners sometimes have less than 5 minutes to clean up between flights.”
While a sixth added, “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.”
Is This A Common Problem?
Based on Iberia’s TripAdvisor content, Sarah isn’t alone with her complaints. The aggregate rating of the plane based on reviews is 2.5, and several of the reviews mentioned the plane’s cleanliness. One review described the interior as “uncomfortable and unclean,” while another claimed that the plane was “dirty” and “like they didn’t clean in between uses.”
A third reviewer described the plane bathroom as “disgustingly dirty,” while a fourth complained that “on international flights the bathrooms and isles become a complete mess with trash and debris.”
In an article by the Daily Passport, cabins are cleaned in only about 30 to 40 minutes. In this time, the crew may vacuum crumbs and pick up trash, leaving the deep cleaning to once a month or every three months, “depending on the airline.”
BroBible reached out to Iberia via email.
@nonstop_sarah 🤮 🤢 seriously tho what’s going on with this plane! #airplane #traveltiktok #traveltips
The issue of cleanliness appears to be pertinent no matter what airline you fly with, as another traveler recently went viral after showing viewers some stomach-turning sights on a United Airlines flight.
In the video, TikTok user Kat Shortsleeve (@katshortsleeve) panned the camera to the crevice of her plane seat. It was full of dark green gunk. Accompanying the video was on-screen text reading: “Shouldn’t there be protocols for United to clean their planes?”