A former airline industry employee, Alison Hope has written an article revealing the dark secrets that her ex colleagues rather you didn't know about.
A former airline industry employee has written a scathing article revealing the dark secrets that her ex-colleagues don't want you to know about.
Passengers may look forward to tucking into an in-flight meal next to a quiet neighbour as they enjoy a fresh cup of coffee.
But unknown to them, the in-flight meal may contravene hygiene standards, the coffee may be made with dirty water and that elderly person next to them might just be dead.
Writing in Refinery 9, Alison Hope explained passengers should on no account drink tea or coffee as the water used is stored in tanks that are hard to clean and so may have high amounts of bacteria.
She also only advised passengers to eat properly sealed food from a reputable company unless they were flying Emirates or Singapore Airlines.
She wrote: "LSG Sky Chefs, one of the largest contractors providing meals to airlines, frequently gets slapped with health violations , and the conditions under which it prepares food are often less than savoury".
Before eating, passengers should clean their tray table with antibacterial wipes because it may be covered in faecal matter or other nasty things.
She wrote: "Passengers often use the trays as their own private diaper changing tables, and sadly, they are cleaned far less than you’d be comforted to know."
The tray table could also be stained with vomit or other bodily fluids from passengers taking advantage of being on holiday to drink until they are sick or even have sex or masturbate in the seats.
She also added people die mid-flight quite regularly, often of heart conditions.
She said: "When someone dies in-flight, a plane will often divert to the nearest city, but sometimes, people slip away so quietly that no one notices until they don't get up from their seats upon landing."
If that is not enough to put anyone off flying for good, Alison said there is always a risk that the niggling technical faults that plague planes might turn into something serious.
She said virtually every plane has something wrong with it and most problems, if they were not too severe, would be left until the plane underwent routine maintenance.