Unspoken Bathroom Etiquette Rules Flight Attendants Really Want You To Know

If you're taking a long international flight, you're probably going to want to get up, stretch your legs to keep your ankles from swelling up, and use the bathroom at least once before you reach your destination. Between clambering over the unlucky fellow passenger trapped in the middle seat and the lucky one who managed to snag the aisle seat, there may be no way to take your bathroom break without annoying the people in your row — but you can avoid annoying the flight attendants by keeping things sanitary and making sure not to get into their private spaces while waiting for your turn.

To find out the bathroom etiquette rules for the sky, we turned to an expert. Barbi is a veteran flight attendant with almost 40 years of experience flying with a major U.S. airline, and she told us the most important things that flight attendants wish they could tell passengers getting up for a bathroom break: Keep your shoes on, keep your hands clean, and stay out of their work areas while you're waiting.

There is some confusion about whether or not passengers are allowed to wait in line for the airplane bathroom since passengers often aren't allowed to get up and hang out in the aisle for safety and security reasons, but in general there's no rule against queuing up to wait your turn. If you want to make your flight attendants' shift a little easier, though, experienced flight attendant Barbi told us that you should really avoid crowding into the galley whenever you can.

It might look like a convenient free space to stand without blocking the aisle, but flight attendants don't want you in their work area while they prepare food and drinks for your fellow passengers. Ideally, you shouldn't be waiting in the area where the flight attendants' seats are, either. It's like walking into their breakroom and standing awkwardly in the corner while they're trying to get ready for work.

"I feel bad saying this because all situations and crews are different, plus I don't want to be rude or unsympathetic to our passengers," Barbi explained. "But our galleys and the areas around our jumpseats are pretty much our only space to decompress and get a break from the bubble we work in."

To stay healthy and keep things from being too gross, some flight attendants suggest wearing a mask in airplane bathrooms. Barbi's advice is even simpler: Remember to wash your hands. It should go without saying at this point, but it's important to always wash your hands after using the bathroom, especially in a public space where everyone has to touch the same surfaces. Barbie explained: "It takes a full 20 seconds of washing with soap and water to properly remove any germs from your hands ... It's the best line of defense against germs and possibly picking up COVID or a cold."

It might seem obvious, but Barbi also reminded us that if you take your shoes off during flights (which is a controversial move to begin with) you should definitely put them back on instead of walking barefoot into the bathroom. Believe it or not, people sometimes brave the bathroom floors without shoes or socks, which is a bad enough idea in a hotel, let alone an airplane. While you won't get to show off your pedicure to everyone in economy, you will avoid foot fungus, so the sacrifice is worth it.