Getting quality sleep on a plane isn’t easy. Between crying babies keeping you awake, freezing cold air conditioning vents, and seats that barely recline, many passengers end up red-eyed from their red-eye flights.
While you could take a sleeping pill (or cocktail) to knock you out, one woman’s dad has a much more creative approach: sleeping on the floor of an airplane.
@bynataliebright more room for everybody. #flyingeconomy#fligh5#asiandadsbelike ♬ The Home Depot Beat – The Home Depot
“You have ur Airport dad, I have my Asian dad,” TikTok user Natalie Bright (@bynataliebright) wrote on her video. It shows her dad lying on the ground, where passengers’ feet usually go. “Flying economy for 15 hours? No problem,” the text overlay continued.
“More room for everybody,” the caption read. By giving up his seat and opting to sleep on the floor, Bright’s dad gave her the free space to put her legs up on the seat and spread out comfortably.
By Tuesday, the video had been viewed more than 6.7 million times. In the comments, viewers applauded Bright’s dad’s clever thinking.
“Why I never thought of it? Lol your dad is genius,” one user wrote. “Only peak Dads can make the floor of the plane look comfy,” another wrote.
However, many were confused about Bright’s dad’s airplane routine, including his travel attire.
“Jeans for 15 hours is absolutely insane,” one user wrote, with a crying emoji.
Many more wondered whether or not passengers are allowed to sleep on the floor. During most flights, passengers are encouraged to stay in their seats, except for using the bathroom. In the event of turbulence, flight attendants usually ask passengers to return to their seats and buckle up their seatbelts.
“Do the flight attendants not say anything,” one person asked.
A former flight attendant joined the conversation to discourage the behavior, citing the questionable cleanliness of the airplane’s floors.
“As a past flight attendant, you don’t want to know what I have seen on those carpets,” she wrote.
According to The Points Guy, there are several reasons why passengers shouldn’t sleep on the floor of an airplane. For starters, flight attendants often focus on cleaning the areas that passengers touch most with their hands, such as armrests, folding trays, and seats. Flights that have a quick turnaround will often have a less intensive clean.
While the carpets of plane typically get vacuumed overnight, they are only shampooed during intensive cleans that happen every 35 to 40 days. Until then, the ground of an airplane is a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, such as the urine that a person may step on inadvertently in the bathroom. So if you drop food on the floor, you may want to think twice about eating it. The same goes for sleeping.
The Daily Dot reached out to Bright via TikTok comment.
