2023-10-30 12:10:02
Hopefully everyone traveling with us had enough time to shower before the trip. Image: dpa
There is still room for improvement in the personal hygiene standards of some passengers: unpleasant body odors can become torture for fellow passengers and sometimes “stinkers” fly off board.
“I can’t smell you” – something that’s so easy to say and do on the ground by simply staying out of each other’s way, is impossible on a plane. In hardly any other situation in life are travelers so physically close and at the mercy of unknown people as when they are above the clouds. In wide-body jets, passengers in economy class today often sit ten in a row, a few millimeters of precious space on the armrest and perhaps headrests that can be folded out to the side are pretty much the maximum amount of privacy offered. It’s not easy to get out, and it’s usually difficult to do so – so many hours on a long-haul flight can become torture.
Smells play a special role here; sensitive noses are bothered by the perfume or aftershave of those sitting around. However, body odors are even worse – and every frequent flyer and cabin crew can tell painful stories about how passengers’ clothing and, increasingly, personal hygiene standards have deteriorated. Filtering the air, i.e. solving the problem technically, does not work. Even if the cabin air is constantly renewed and filtered, as the airlines have always emphasized, especially during Corona, this does not eliminate the occasional odor nuisance.
#Body #odors #planes #stinks #sky