Get All Access for $5/mo

Flight Attendant Reveals Surprising Reason Why You Should Never Wear Shorts on an Airplane: 'You Never Know' Tommy Cimato, a flight attendant who has amassed a following of over 108,000 on TikTok, shared five things that passengers should never do on an airplane.

By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It's no secret that despite increased pandemic-instated sanitation practices and clean downs, airplanes are notoriously not the cleanest of spaces when passengers are on board.

Regardless of distancing and using your own precautions, having dozens of people in one confined space for a long period of time lends itself to higher risk of contracting germs.

But while some precautions might seem obvious (wipe down the tray table with a sanitary wipe, avoid touching door handles, etc.), one flight attendant is making waves by sharing one thing you should never do on an airplane that most of us probably haven't ever thought about.

Related: How to Navigate Costly Airline Seat Selection Fees

Tommy Cimato, a flight attendant who has amassed a following of over 108,000 on TikTok, shared one of the five most unsanitary things you can while riding an airplane: wear shorts.

Yes, it's true!

@tommycimato

##greenscreen ##fyp ##flightattendant ##airline ##aviation ##travel ##flights

♬ Blue Blood - Heinz Kiessling & Various Artists

The video, which has now been viewed over 3.3 million times, goes through a list of five behaviors to practice on board, which include drinking 16 ounces of water per flight, not touching the flush button in the bathroom with your bare hands and not sleeping on the window.

All of these seem relatively reasonable when thinking about the germ-risk, but Cimato explains that wearing shorts and leaving your legs exposed to the seats are just as risky.

"Don't or try not to wear shorts when you're on an airplane. It's the same thing as the window, you never know how clean it's going to be," he says in the video. "So if you have pants, you're gonna have less germs."

The post has garnered over 462,000 comments with many questioning whether or not Cimato's tips mean that airplanes aren't always properly sanitized.

Related: Airline Infuriates Passengers After Adding Hidden 'Covid Recovery Fee'

"So u guys don't clean it after each flight," user Criss Carrillo questioned.

"So you're basically saying you don't clean/sanitize the plane after every flight," another user wrote. "Got it."

Cimato did respond to one user who posted the question "Don't they sanitize every flight?"

"The ground crew does all the plane cleaning, they try their best to keep it clean," Cimato typed back. "But this is just in case if it gets missed!"

A report by the United Nations air transportation agency (The International Civil Aviation Organization) showed that the airline industry as a whole lost around $370 billion in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, with passenger numbers plummeting nearly 60% from the year prior.

Cimato did not reveal what airline he works for.

Related: American Airlines Will Cancel Hundreds of Flights Due to Staffing Shortages

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Side Hustle

This 20-Year-Old Student Started a Side Hustle With $400 — and It Earned $150,000 Over the Summer

Jacob Shaidle launched his barbecue cleaning business Shaidle Cleaning in 2021 when he was just 15.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Is Now the World's Second Richest Person, Behind Elon Musk

Meta's CEO jumped ahead of Jeff Bezos in Bloomberg's rankings this week.

Business News

Meta Says Its New Movie Gen AI Is an Industry First — But a Demo Shows It Isn't Perfect

Movie Gen is too expensive to be released to the public yet, according to Meta's chief product officer.

Business News

Barbara Corcoran Says This Is the One Question to Ask Before Selling Your Home

Barbara Corcoran sold The Corcoran Group in 2001 for $66 million.

Business News

Google Says It Won't Follow Amazon's Lead With a Return-to-Office Mandate — Yet

In a town hall, Google leaders told staff the current hybrid plan will stay in place.