Originally Posted by toryvict
So, what kind of cleaning do they do at the end of each flight, and do they do a more thorough cleaning after a certain number of flights?
Also, those pillows and blankets, are they actually new?
This probably varies from airline to airline, so I can only offer insight as to how it's done where I work.
Most flights are scheduled with only minimal time in between. Just enough time (sometimes just barely enough) to deplane, clean and cater, and board up again. The cleaners come on, empty the trash in the lavs, restock supplies there, vacuum or sweep the floors, toss the extraneous newspapers and magazines (or give them to the FA's
). They fold the seatbelts to look neat, and yes they're supposed to check the seat-back pockets - though you can imagine how time consuming it would be to check (and clean) every pocket on the plane. At the hubs, they take off last month's magazines and replace them with new.
The pillows and blankets are refolded at non-hub stations. At hubs, they're either refolded or replaced depending on the length of flight that is about to go out (for instance, int'l/transcon/red-eyes all get fresh pillows and blankets), and depending on how clean they are. If they look icky to me, I'll ask for replacements even when we're not scheduled for them. Aircraft that remain overnight at hubs all get fresh items, too.
The thorough cleaning happens wherever the plane remains over night, which is why you might notice, now that you know, the planes looking fresher on your early morning flights.
The quality of the job the cleaners do varies...they're pretty dependable at our hubs. Most of the outstations do a good (often great) job, but some are a little lacking. Most of us FA's keep an eye on things and make sure the cabin looks good before boarding - but with very short turn-around times, sometimes we're between a rock and a hard place. In other words, I'm not going to delay the outbound flight because the cleaners did a poor job - and I'll hope that my passengers don't think it was my job to clean the plane, because I'd be embarassed if they did.
One thing this job has taught me is that people are pigs. Serious oinkers, even. I can understand a little mess when you're travelling with 4 kids under 5 years old - but it's beyond me how allegedly grown up adults can make the messes they often leave behind. The next time you're the last one off the plane, especially after a long-ish flight (or any flight to/from a leisure destination), take a look around and imagine having to make it look presentable in less than 10 minutes. Yikes! Pigs.