This is Kat Kamalani — a flight attendant and TikTok user who's gone viral on the platform for sharing insider tips, tricks, and secrets from working on an airplane.
In a recent video, Kat revealed all of the gross things on airplanes that customers touch without thinking twice. And it's now going viral on TikTok as people realize with horror just how truly dirty airplanes are.
"The nastiest parts on an airplane, from a flight attendant," Kat says in the video, which has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.
"First thing's first, do not touch the backseat pocket," Kat reveals. "They clean them out between flights, but they don't sanitize them."
Kat then warns viewers that sticking your hand into that seat pocket is effectively the same as sticking your hand into a garbage bin: "Think of all the dirty tissues, barf bags, and garbage that has been in there," she says.
"Next, if you're gonna use your tray table, make sure you sanitize it. I have seen so many parents use this as a changing table for their child's diaper," Kat cautions.
And where do parents stash that dirty, poop-filled diaper when they're done with it, you may ask? "They put it in the seatback pocket," she says.
Kat then warns viewers about the air vents on planes.
"Yeah, those air vents? They've seen thousands of hands. Wipe them down before you touch them," she advises.
"Next up is our safety guide cards," Kat continues. "We don't sanitize them, and a lot of people touch and read these to pass by time." Another thing to sanitize before using!!!
How about the seatbelt? "Yeah...just wipe it," Kat warns. Enough said.
Next up is a tip that probably won't shock you: Airplane bathrooms are really freaking gross! Kat warns against touching even the lock bolt.
"When entering the lavatory, use a tissue to lock the door," she says.
And, speaking of airplane bathrooms, Kat ended her video with some practical advice for anyone who gets periods: "You can always find pads hidden in a compartment in the lavatory."
Kat told BuzzFeed she was inspired to make the viral video after flying as a passenger during the coronavirus outbreak.
"[I] realized as a passenger you would have no clue what does get sterilized or cleaned and what doesn’t," she said. "So that inspired me to make a video to showcase what passengers should be wiping down before touching."
And Kat wants people to understand that it's not the flight attendants who clean the planes. There's a dedicated cleaning crew for that, but they "don't have time to sterilize every seat":
Also, a lot of passengers think it’s the flight attendant's job to clean, which it isn’t. We have cleaning crews, but they’re always on a very short time constraint to turn around the plane and get it out for the next flight, so they don’t have time to sterilize every seat.
Well, here's me the next time I get on an airplane — which, let's be honest, will probably not be anytime soon:
