Shorts might be the first thing you pack when you’re flying somewhere warm. They’re light, comfortable and a lot more appealing than sitting in jeans for several hours.
But there’s one place where some flight attendants say you may want to think twice about showing too much skin: your airplane seat.
Charity Nelms, a former Survivor 48 contestant who has worked as a flight attendant for 11 years, recently warned passengers about wearing shorts, skirts and dresses on flights. Her reason had nothing to do with fashion or an airline dress code. It was the seats.
“I have seen some diabolical things,” Nelms said while explaining why she prefers passengers to wear full-length pants.
And once you hear what another flight attendant says she has seen happen on those seats, you might look at your next flight outfit a little differently.
Why Flight Attendants Say to Avoid Bare Legs on a Plane
Nelms’ advice is pretty straightforward, don’t let your bare skin touch the airplane seat if you can avoid it. That may sound overly cautious until you consider how many people use the same seat during a normal day of flying.
One passenger eats there. Another sleeps there. Someone else might travel with a small child. Drinks get spilled, food gets dropped and, occasionally, passengers get sick. Most of those things are dealt with by cabin cleaning crews, but passengers don’t get to see everything that happened on the seat before they boarded.
Another flight attendant, Cher Killough, shared an especially unpleasant example. She said that during one flight, four diapers were changed on passenger seats and all four were dirty.
That’s not exactly the kind of information you want in your head while settling into an economy seat. Still, there’s an important distinction here, wearing shorts on a plane isn’t against airline rules. The warning is personal advice from flight attendants based on what they’ve encountered at work, not a universal aviation requirement.
For travelers who want an easy extra layer of protection, though, wearing pants is a simple solution.
How Clean Are Airplane Seats, Really?
Airplanes don’t just get ignored after passengers leave. Cabins are cleaned, but there are different levels of cleaning, and the amount of work that can be done depends partly on how much time the aircraft has before its next flight.
A short turnaround may allow cleaners to deal with rubbish and obvious messes, while more extensive cleaning can take place when the aircraft has a longer period on the ground. Aviation hygiene guidance also distinguishes between routine cleaning and deeper cleaning, with tasks such as vacuuming seats, removing stains and cleaning seat surfaces included in more thorough procedures.
So that airplane seat may look spotless when you sit down without necessarily having gone through a full deep clean immediately before your flight.
You can’t know whether the previous passenger spilled a drink, dropped food or had a messy moment with a child. You probably won’t even know if anything happened at all.
For a long flight, loose trousers, jeans or breathable linen pants can give you that coverage without making you uncomfortable. If you’re worried about staying cool, lightweight full-length pants are an easy alternative to shorts.
There’s a Safety Reason to Think About Your Flight Outfit, Too
The hygiene argument is what has caught people’s attention, but clothing can also matter if something goes seriously wrong.
Emergency evacuations are rare, but when one happens, passengers may have to leave an aircraft quickly and move through conditions they weren’t expecting.
The FAA tells passengers to follow crew instructions, leave their belongings behind and move quickly toward the nearest safe exit. It also advises passengers to remove high-heeled shoes before using an evacuation slide.
Bare legs aren’t going to make an evacuation impossible. But shorts or a short skirt obviously leave more skin exposed than a pair of full-length pants.
If you have to move across a rough surface, deal with heat or use an evacuation slide, that extra layer of clothing could be useful.
The same goes for shoes. Your favorite high heels may look great with an airport outfit, but they’re not what you want to be worrying about when you need to move quickly.
That’s why a practical travel outfit can make more sense than dressing purely for the destination.
What Should You Wear on a Plane Instead?
You don’t have to dress like you’re going to a business meeting.
A comfortable pair of loose-fitting pants, a T-shirt or breathable top, and a lightweight layer is enough for most flights. If the cabin gets cold, a hoodie or sweater can be thrown on without much fuss.
For shoes, go with something comfortable and secure. You may spend hours sitting, but you’ll still need to walk through the airport, climb stairs or move quickly if the situation ever requires it.
And if you’re heading somewhere hot? Pack the shorts in your suitcase.
There’s nothing wrong with wearing them once you land.
As for the flight itself, full-length pants are an easy choice if you want to follow the advice coming from flight attendants who have spent years inside aircraft cabins.
After all, they see the parts of air travel passengers usually don’t.
And that might be enough to make you think twice before putting bare legs on an airplane seat.
