Earlier this week, The Washington Post spoke to an airline cabin cleaner working at John F. Kennedy International Airport about what it takes to keep travelers safe and healthy, especially in light of recent ebola cases. The worker commented that cleaners wipe down the lavatories, empty the garbage, wipe down and empty the seat pockets, vacuum, mop and repack blankets into bags.
Working on a team of seven to 10 people, the workers get in and out of smaller plaines within 10 minutes, while the larger jumbo jets can take an hour, even with several crews.
Although the workers do use personal protective equipment in the form of gloves and masks, they don’t feel that is enough to protect them from possible infection transmission. As a result, roughly 200 cabin cleaners refused to go to work at LaGuardia.
The Centers for Disease Control has issued guidelines for how cabin cleaners should be protected, but no federal agency explicitly regulates the procedure, and standards vary widely across airlines, say reports.
Click here to read this full article.