Coronavirus: How to disinfect your space on an airplane

When a video of Naomi Campbell cleaning her airplane seat and wearing a mask and gloves was shared online last year, it made the rounds because her behavior seemed exaggerated. (“Clean everything you touch,” Campbell said in the video.)

Major airlines, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, say they clean their planes to varying degrees between flights, and that plane cleanliness is a priority. But some travelers, including apparently Campbell, prefer the comfort of knowing they’ve also taken measures of their own to sanitize their airplane space.

There’s been increased attention on this in recent weeks, with the unsettling spread of the coronavirus around the world.

“The airplane and airplane seat is a public space, and we know that germs can live on surfaces for a long time, so it doesn’t hurt to clean it,” said Aaron Milstone, associate hospital epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Here are some tips for cleaning your area of a plane and keeping healthy on a flight: