The Grossest Places on an Airplane

Whether you’re a frequent flyer or a once-a-year traveler, chances are you’ve been grossed out on an airplane a time or two. It’s pretty nasty to find someone’s curdling coffee or half-eaten bagel in the seat pocket in front of you. Airports and airplanes in general are notoriously dirty, but there are certain locations that are ickier than the rest.

To find out where the dirtiest spots were located, Travelmath—a site that makes travel-related calculations—turned to a microbiologist for some answers. After taking samples from five airport locations and four different flights, the microbiologist determined the number of Colony Forming Units (CFUs) per square inch, which Travelmath then used to create a ranking of the areas with the most germs.