Sit in filth? Major airline reportedly considers deluxe cleaning for premium seats only
Cleanliness may soon come at a price for Southwest travelers — and passengers are blasting the proposed policy.
The Dallas-based airline is considering bringing in cabin cleaners between flights to clean only the premium extra legroom seat areas of the aircraft, according to reports.
Coach cabins will reportedly not receive the same deluxe treatment.
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"Southwest Airlines flight attendants tidy every aircraft between every flight today," a Southwest spokesperson told Fox News Digital Friday when asked about the reports.
"That will continue, and in addition, we are looking at potentially bringing in additional cleaners when needed, at certain airports to supplement — not replace — our standard cleaning efforts."
"We will continue to make sure our aircraft are ready for every customer, regardless of where their seats are on the plane," the spokesperson added.
An airline flight attendants union board member posted a since-deleted video for crew members, saying he was concerned about the experiment the airline was trying, in which premium cabins would be cleaned between every flight — but not the whole aircraft.
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The individual claimed he got a memo from Southwest on Tuesday about the new cleaning experiment.
He reportedly compared the proposed cleaning change to the upper class on the Titanic "having cigars and sipping brandy" — while passengers below didn't get their seats cleaned.
"So up front, you’ve got these super clean airplanes. In the back, you’ve got half-hearted, tidied airplanes. The passengers are going to come on board. They’re going to see it," he said, according to the blog "View from the Wing."
"When passengers see what’s going on, they’re going to be very upset," he reportedly said.
Southwest passengers took to Facebook and X to voice their frustrations about the potential policy.
"Southwest Airlines [is] only gonna clean your seat if it smells like money," wrote an angry X user. "The rest of you peasants can sit in the germ-infested filth left behind by the rest of the poor people."
"Southwest Airlines has turned into public transit. Dirty and expensive," another person said, slamming the company.
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Facebook users felt differently.
"Bring your own wipes if you really want a clean seat," said one person. "People need to stop leaving a mess for the flight attendants to clean up."
Another Facebook user agreed, saying, "I don’t ever trust anyone to clean my seat the way I want anyway. I always carry wipes to wipe everything down right as I sit down so I can try to keep germs at bay."
Said yet another Facebook user, "They pick up loose trash and lay the seat belts in the seats. I've sat down plenty of times with snack crumbs all around my feet."
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Etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore of Florida said every airline passenger should be courteous.
"Everyone should clean up after themselves, regardless of whether the cleaning crew comes in or not," she told Fox News Digital. "As a passenger, you should pack your manners — and you should clean up your surrounding area."
Whitmore, who worked as a flight attendant for years, said it is generally the flight attendants' job to collect garbage throughout the flight — not the responsibility of a cleaning crew.
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"I used to see this all the time," she said. "Passengers would change their baby's diaper on the seat. Then they might leave a dirty diaper on the seat."
Ultimately, the potential new cleaning policy from Southwest could affect flight attendants more than passengers.
"After everybody deplanes the flight, attendants will go through the cabin with one final sweep," Whitmore said.
"Personally, I'd be more upset if I were a flight attendant, not a passenger," she added.
This is the second time in a week Southwest has taken some heat from passengers.
The airline was slammed after it made a major process change over a month ago. The airline transitioned Jan. 27 from an open seating policy — so passengers now must select their seats or be assigned specific spots.
Passengers say they have issues reading the seat numbers, run into snags with the boarding flow and are unable to spread out on the plane.
"We’re always looking for ways to improve our customer experience, to continue delivering the seamless and reliable travel journey that customers expect from Southwest," a company spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital's Ashley J. DiMella contributed reporting.