Originally Posted by
TonyBurr
In the 60's and on it was a regular thing. I know it was on European flights. New Zealand also did it in the 80's and 90's. It was the norm decades ago.
New Zealand still does it, although its up to the airlines on how to implement. Many airlines choose to treat the materials within the aircraft with a pesticide so that the spray is unnecessary, but the FA unions for many airlines argue against it, as some evidence suggests that prolonged exposure to the material treatment has more risk than the aerosol spraying. I know for sure that HA chooses to do the aerosol method for flights into NZ, not sure about UA, AA, and others though.