2 Things Doctors Never Skip on a Plane (Plus 1 Bonus)

Most people board a plane thinking about one thing: getting to where they’re going. They find their seat, stuff their carry-on in the overhead bin, and settle in. What they’re not thinking about is the tray table they just unfolded, the UV rays pouring in through the window beside them, or the fact that a sudden jolt of turbulence could send them flying across the cabin before they’ve even had a chance to buckle up.

Flying is extraordinarily safe in terms of crashes. But the everyday risks that travel medicine doctors think about are very different from the ones most passengers consider. And according to emergency medicine physicians who fly regularly, there are a handful of specific habits that could quietly put your health at risk on almost every flight you take.

The good news is that all of them are easy to fix, once you know what to watch for. Here are two things doctors say you should never skip on a plane – and one bonus safety habit they wish more passengers took seriously.

1. Skipping the Sanitizing Wipe on Your Tray Table

There’s a reason experienced travelers pull out a disinfecting wipe the moment they sit down. The tray table is almost certainly the dirtiest surface you’ll touch on any flight – by a wide margin.

A study by TravelMath that tested hard surfaces on planes found that tray table surfaces had more than eight times the amount of bacteria per square inch than lavatory flush buttons. The trays measured 2,155 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch, compared to the 127 CFU per square inch that the National Science Foundation considers standard for a home toilet seat. Read that again: the tray you eat your pretzels off is statistically filthier than your toilet at home.

According to USA Today, Microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba at the University of Arizona has found cold viruses, human parainfluenza viruses, norovirus, and the antibiotic-resistant superbug MRSA on plane tray tables he’s tested. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of bacteria that resists many common antibiotics and can cause serious skin infections. Researchers at Auburn University found that MRSA and E. coli O157:H7 can hitch extended rides on tray tables and other airplane surfaces. Under the right circumstances, contact with those surfaces could lead to infection with E. coli, which can cause kidney failure.

So why are tray tables so contaminated? The answer is simple: cleaning crews don’t have enough time. Officials from major US airlines including American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier, and Spirit have all confirmed that their aircraft go through only a “limited” cleaning between flights, when turnaround times are quick. Turnaround time, meaning the gap between a plane’s arrival and its next departure, can be as short as 25 to 45 minutes for smaller aircraft. Cleaning can only take up a fraction of that window. The most comprehensive deep-clean a plane receives typically happens every 30 to 45 days, when tray tables, overhead bins, and even ceilings are washed.

What can you do? Pack disinfecting wipes in your carry-on and use them. Wipe the tray table top and underside before you fold it down. A critical step many people skip: disinfecting wipes need to keep the surface visibly wet for 30 seconds to four minutes to actually kill germs – that’s when the chemicals do their job. Don’t simply swipe the surface dry in one pass and assume you’re done. Also apply the same approach to your seatbelt buckle, armrests, and window shade, all of which are touched by dozens of passengers between deep cleans.

2. Flying Without Sunscreen

This one surprises most people. Sunscreen is for the beach, not a window seat at 35,000 feet – right? Not according to dermatologists and travel medicine doctors.

When you’re flying at cruising altitudes of around 35,000 feet, UV exposure increases because the atmosphere is thinner, providing less protection against the sun’s rays. Aircraft windows do block nearly all UVB radiation – the type responsible for sunburn – but they let through a meaningful amount of UVA radiation. UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin, contributing to premature aging and increasing the risk of skin cancer.

One study measuring UV radiation in the pilot seat of a turboprop airplane found that flying for under an hour at 30,000 feet had the same UVA carcinogenic radiation exposure as a 20-minute tanning bed session. That finding, from researchers studying aircraft UV exposure, puts the risk in sharp perspective. You’d never sit in a tanning bed for 20 minutes without thinking twice – but most passengers don’t think twice about spending two, four, or eight hours next to an airplane window.

A review of 19 research studies, published in JAMA Dermatology in 2015, concluded that pilots and cabin crews have about twice the incidence of melanoma compared with the general population. Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, and the evidence connecting it to cumulative UVA exposure in aviation is now substantial. UV radiation intensifies with altitude, increasing by roughly 10 to 12 percent for every 3,280 feet gained. At some cruising altitudes, that can more than double your exposure compared to ground level.

Passengers spend far less time airborne than flight crews, so the relative risk is lower. But frequent flyers – especially those who travel weekly for business – accumulate significant UV exposure over time, and window seats amplify it. Passengers and flight crews alike should follow sun protection measures. The fix is simple: apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 to your face, neck, and hands before you board. If you’re on a long-haul flight, consider reapplying after several hours. Knowing the signs of skin cancer early can also make a meaningful difference to treatment outcomes.

3. Sitting Unbuckled When the Fasten Seat Belt Sign Is Off

This is the bonus habit doctors consistently raise, and it matters more than most passengers realize. The instinct to unbuckle the moment the fasten seat belt sign goes off is understandable, but turbulence doesn’t wait for permission.

One of the most dangerous forms of turbulence is clear-air turbulence, which gives no visible warning and often occurs when pilots don’t have the fasten seat belt sign turned on. It’s invisible to radar, to satellites, and to the naked eye. The only warning you get is the sudden, violent jolt itself. According to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, the majority of passengers seriously injured by turbulence were not wearing their seat belts – often because they were using the restroom or walking up or down the aisle.

According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the NTSB, between 2009 and 2024, there were 207 serious injuries from turbulence and one fatality in the US alone. Those numbers sound manageable until you consider that serious injuries in this context include fractures, internal organ damage, and severe burns – and that minor injuries go largely unreported. And things may get worse before they get better. Researchers reanalyzing atmospheric data from 1980 to 2021 found that moderate-to-severe clear-air turbulence increased between approximately 60% and 155% over North Africa, East Asia, the Middle East, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific over that 41-year period.

While turbulence is normal and happens often, it can be dangerous – its bumpy ride can cause passengers who are not wearing their seat belts to be thrown from their seats without warning. The FAA recommends keeping your seat belt buckled at all times while seated, not just when the sign is on. It’s the single easiest protection available, costs nothing, and requires zero preparation. Just leave it on.

What to Do on Your Next Flight

These three habits are small, but their cumulative effect on your health across dozens of flights a year adds up fast. Before your next trip, tuck a small pack of EPA-registered disinfecting wipes into your carry-on. Apply sunscreen before you leave for the airport, not just when you arrive at your destination. And when you sit down, buckle up – and stay that way.

None of this requires paranoia or a lengthy pre-flight ritual. The tray table wipe takes 30 seconds. Sunscreen takes 60. Keeping your seat belt on costs nothing. The passengers most likely to come home healthy from a flight are not the ones who obsess over every germicidal detail, but the ones who’ve quietly made a handful of smart defaults second nature. These are three worth starting with.

A.I. Disclaimer: This article was created with AI assistance and edited by a human for accuracy and clarity.