Flight Attendant Reveals Why You Should Never Eat Off an Airplane Tray Table

An airplane tray table feels like a harmless little dinner plate in the sky, right up until a flight attendant tells you what actually happens on it. A flight attendant named Janae went viral this week after revealing that some parents change babies’dirty diapers on tray tables, the same surfaces passengers eat and rest their belongings on. Her reaction? She never eats off them, and if she has to use one, she puts down a trash bag as a barrier first.

She also pointed out that Lysol wipes need to keep a surface wet for about 10 minutes to be fully effective, which means that quick swipe most of us do is mostly theater. Other flight attendants have flagged window shades, carpets, overhead bins, and bathroom faucets as equally questionable territory, and a nursing professor echoed the warning about airplane restrooms and stomach bugs. So the tray table is not alone in being gross, but it’s the one closest to your snack.

The takeaway isn’t to fear flying, it’s to fly smarter. Pack your own wipes, use a barrier, and don’t hand a flight attendant anything you wouldn’t want handed to you. Have you ever witnessed something gross mid-flight? Tell us in the comments, we know you have stories.