Long-haul, and sometimes shorter, flights are accompanied by various troubles, including unpleasant odors from the feet of tourists. Stewardess Marika Mikusova decided to share her cunning ways to fight this delicate problem, telling the British publication Mirror about her personal experience of fighting the disease of smelly feet.
According to a flight attendant, travelers should not think of airline staff on board as “air fairies” as airline employees also face bad odors coming from their feet and shoes. “We also have the problem of foot odor because we, women, have to wear pantyhose during the entire flight. Even our special shoes don’t always help. But I found a solution — I buy new insoles every week,” said the interlocutor. She also noted that checking the cleanliness of the feet and socks before the flight is a concern not only for yourself but also for the passengers sitting next to you.
The change in air pressure on the plane can cause swelling, especially if the shoes are a little tight. In this case, the most obvious way for many tourists seems to be to take off their shoes. But the consequences may cause displeasure among the neighbors on the row.
Another flight attendant, Leisha Perez from the United States, gave another reason why travelers should keep their feet “in the bridle.” “Sometimes you can find not only water on the floor of the toilet but also bodily fluids,” she said, warning that the urine immediately soaks into the socks.
Passengers walking around the cabin of an airliner wearing only socks or even barefoot cause mixed reactions from crew members. The fact is that the frequent change of short-distance flights leaves little time for a complete cleaning of the aircraft, so it is almost impossible to maintain perfect cleanliness in the toilets during the flight.
So, one flight attendant recently spoke on the Reddit forum about the problems associated with maintaining cleanliness on passenger flights. “I can’t speak for every airport and every airline regarding cleanliness, but I will speak for myself. Together with my colleagues, I cleaned every night, thoroughly cleaned the galley and toilets, vacuumed the floor, and wiped the backs of chairs and tables with a disinfectant, she noted. “But it is worth remembering that, if this is not the first flight of the day, other people have already traveled on this plane, and during the day there is no time for more thorough cleaning, except for the collection of large waste.”