For plenty of travelers, the holiday mood kicks in as soon as they’re airborne—often helped along with a drink or two. But one flight attendant says there’s something you should seriously reconsider: using the tray table as-is.
On long-haul journeys in particular, tray tables feel non-negotiable. They’re where meals land, where laptops get opened, and where phones and tablets sit while you stream a few episodes to make the hours pass quicker.
It all seems perfectly normal—and pretty harmless. But a TikTok from a cabin crew member has sparked a new round of travel warnings, adding the “tray table” to the growing list of things flight staff say passengers should think twice about.
So what’s the issue? According to a Spirit Airlines flight attendant with seven years of experience, the problem is what people do with those tables when no one is watching.
Cher, who goes by the username @cherdallas on TikTok shared with her 27.5k followers: “I am never eating off a tray table! It astonishes me how often there are people that will feed their kids snacks off of the bare tray table.
“Do y’all know how many people rub their toes on there? Do you know how many dirty diapers get changed and they set it on they tray table while they wait for us?” Yuk!
She added that, even though it’s not something passengers are meant to do, she’s seen it happen repeatedly—making the idea of eating directly off the surface a lot less appealing.
She then begged her followers: “I’m barely touching it, let alone eating food off of it. Please stop doing that!”
It also helps explain why some high-profile flyers take cleaning into their own hands before settling in. And Cher’s comments section suggested plenty of people already do the same—one viewer wrote: “I wipe it down with disinfectant wipes.”
Another penned: “OMG. I already am a flight germaphobe and now this!”
And the tray table wasn’t her only caution. Cher also urged passengers not to walk around barefoot—something a few commenters didn’t even realize people do.
Her reasoning was blunt: she says she’s witnessed passengers being sick on the carpet, and while crew will do what they can to deal with it, she claims it isn’t cleaned as thoroughly as people might assume—and the flooring typically isn’t replaced.
Her final piece of advice was noticeably less gross, but still practical. She suggested avoiding the bathroom while the cabin crew are pushing the service carts.
“If you get stuck between the carts, it sucks and you’re in the most uncomfortable position,” she said. “Just wait until they’re done with service or go before they start,” she recommended.
At this point, swapping wings for wheels might not sound like the worst idea.