Let's just differentiate here between 'UNTIDY' and 'FILTHY'. Common and professional courtesy dictates that the pilots should tidy up after themselves. Removal of flight deck gash bags and disposal of used water bottles and newspapers as well as wrappers and other garbage should be done by the pilots. Usually placing these items into one gashbaag for the cleaners to remove is sufficient. Stowing manuals and charts or leaving them tidy for the next crew should also be SOP for anyone employed on the flight deck.

As far as hygene, that is a separate matter. I remember joining my first jet airline and being given a 2" paintbrush and told that I can either use it to paint my home during the quiet winter months (whatever happened to those?) or else use it to clear away the accumulated dust (mostly dead skin cells) that gathers in every nook and cranny on a flight deck. Unfortunately, I noticed that every time I used it to 'dust', all I seemed to be doing was rearranging the dirt as it would just fly up into the air and swirl about before settling back on the screens and into all the other orifices!

As to other dirt such as crumbs, wayward peas, coughed up boiled sweets, half chewed food and everything else that gets spilled or splashed around the flight deck (and that's just from me!) it really begs the question, why isn't something done about it? Some companies arrange for a 'deep clean' of the flight deck when it goes in for heavy maintenance but judging from the reality I have seen in the past, that is little more than the 'rearranging' of the dirt and dust that I mentioned earlier.

Perhaps it's time that someone, perhaps our professional associations, should look into the hygene and health safety of the flight deck. Maybe I should start a company that specialises in deep cleaning flight decks and offer the services to the various airlines. Something along the lines of a crew of cleaners who are trained in dealing with flight decks and aware of the need to be extra careful about pushing switches etc.

Even if cleaners are allowed onto the flight deck to vacuum the dust, why shouldn't they be allowed to wipe down the panels and sills? The next crew should still do their pre-flight scans and put right anything that has accidentally been left out of position.

Let's be specific here when we discuss the state of our flight decks (offices). We are talking about cleanliness and hygene. How many companies would invest umpteen millions of pounds/dollars in their offices and then fail to have the cleaners look after the state of their management offices? None probably except airlines of course. Contaminated air may be one problem on some aircraft types but I'm fairly sure that unhygenic conditions on most flight decks probably leads to more lost days work to various sickness overall.

Hmm... I feel a poll coming on.

Frankly, this is disgusting and really gross. Who among the passengers would have thunk that these conditions exist upfront!! Dead skin, yuk!!!

Perhaps the airlines could install wall-mounted portable vacuums (dust busters, as they are sometimes called), so that departing crews could tidy up a bit for the next incoming. That wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, and perhaps, after a short time, everyone will get the message. Perhaps no one cleans up, as the tools to do so are not provided.

Just a thought ... from a neat freak (dead skin! yuk again!!)

Question for Capt. Danny ... is this why you have flying pigs as your logo?

my opinion as cabin crew is that it doesnt take a lot to keep the FD tidy in the first place,just a plastic bag.when you get rubbish,put it in there!!!!!or when we come into the fight deck,gives it to us!!if you eat something that leaves loads of crumbs,try and get them onto a napkin instead of the seat & floor.its common sense,so why is it so hard for some flight crew to keep it tidy?sometimes i go in there and theres cups along the side of the seats,banana skins and sandwich wrappers on the floor,half eaten chocolate bars and some of them expect us to come in and tidy it all up.i dont mind if they pass it to me,but im not going in there with a bag and picking it up for them!!!

Our cleaners do vacuum and clean the flt. deck of all the detrious of a longhaul flight,
newspapers/waterbottles/magazines/cheeseboards etc etc. they are however not allowed to touch any of the er! 'hardwear'.
They have also on more than one occasion managed to 'dispose' of the Tech Logs :uhoh:
I have witnessed myself, engineers various and assorted managers rummaging around inside of one of Mr. Grundons compacter skips ripping open stinking polythene sacks searching for the errant paperwork.:}

More female pilots needed. (Not to clean the place, simply to nag us males to be tidier)

Out of curiosity, and now that the subject of gender has been raised, are female pilots just as messy as their male counterparts?

Tigeriffic as cabin crew myself I agree with you re pilots (and Cabin crew in the galleys for that matter) cleaning up after themselves, however I think most people agree thats not really the issue - the vast majority of pilots (both male and female) tend to have at least a small instinctive amount of professional courtesy and respect re the way they "handover" their workplace to their colleagues. The point here moreso is the lack of deep cleaning taking place can ultimately lead to not only technical malfunction but also a human health hazard. I think Danny may be on the money re starting up a company that specializes in deep cleaning flight decks...

(and I mean come on, in all seriousness - picking your teeth with the checklist? That's just wrong that is...)

One thing that I think about now and again... think of the ammount of grime and dirt that your seat cushion has on it. These are rarely washed, if ever! Some people end up standing on the seat as they try and 'climb' into their seat and think of all that sweat that the seats have 'soaked' up on those hot days!

My last company dished out hot towels to the passengers and if we ever got one then it was alarming to see how quickly it turned a nice shade of grey as I tried to do a bit of in-house cleaning!

Big Fraidy Cat suggests a dustbuster. Coincidentally whilst a pax on a Jet2 flight last night, there was such a thing in the overhead locker that appeared to belong on the aircraft. Suspect it may be to assist the cabin crew in a quick clean during turnround, but maybe they'd let the flightdeck crew borrow it!

Well, I'm not a pilot, so I didn't vote. Bitching about it has it's place if you bitch to the right people.

Right, this applies to major operators who have a cabin mtce dept. This is what needs to be done.

Flt deck gets cleaned when the deep cabin grooming gets dons.
Flt deck gets cleaned if requested,
Lead groomers/cleaners are used to clean the flt deck and are trained about what not to touch.
Flt deck cleaning gets signed off on the paperwork and inspected if necessary.

A small hook is installed on the inside side of the flt deck seats so to hang a plastic bag for rubbish. Pilots try to place rubbish in them. Said bags are removed and replaced after every flight that is groomed.

As with a prudent cleaning procedure for cabin seat cover cleaning and replacement, so follows with the flt deck seat covers including the sheepskin covers.

If you don't or can't have such a program..... you've got a filthy flt deck.

Its called cologne wipe !
 

Last airline I flew for and the present one , all have disposable wipes for crews to use as they enter the deck ... that means part before starting pre cockpit and cockpit checks .. you have to take them wipes and wipe everything u think your going to remotely touch . . . .. clean !

then on with the flight :ok:

I’m fed up with all that rubbish left behind, if you can’t keep your FLT deck clean bad luck! ;) I am not talking about any rubbish accidentally dropped, but if you can’t clean up newspapers, magazines, cups, leftovers or any other :mad: I won’t do it either.

Cleaners shouldn’t enter the flight deck without permission and if we are not there, bad luck for the morning crew.

mjv

Airline Services train some of their staff to carry out Technical Flight Deck Cleans.

Careful, you'll turn into Howard Hughes!! :\

Any of you guys who flew a desk before you moved into the cockpit may remember how every morning you came in to work, your bin had been emptied, desk polished, floor hoovered. etc.

I thought about this an decided I'd rather not have people buffing the panel with pledge. So I guess it's down to me.

Get Aggey and Kim to start a new progamme, How clean is your cockpit???

and we all now know how effective this check is..................:rolleyes:

Finally a thread I am an EXPERT in!
 

Cleaning!

You are all correct. You can not expect to hire "untrained cleaning staff" to clean out an area which has sensitive equipment.

What makes this problem worse is the fact that many people pass through this workspace, so dirt, crap, rubbish builds up.

Also this workspace may be used 24/7. when does the window of opportunity arise for a "deep clean"?

The answer is.......

In the "dead time" The time in your shift when things are quiet, you CLEAN!

To make this wonderful thing better you leave a note for the next shift telling them how far you got.

Works in my industry. Unskilled labour just mops the floor. The people that use the equipment clean up their trash at the end of the shift, clean and sterilize what they used and do some of the "Deep Cleaning"

OK so some of you are going to yell... "we are not paid to clean!"

To those I say, "Take pride in the equipment you use, and care for it"

The aircraft in the fleet I fly all have dusting brushes (an ordinary 1 inch paint brush) attached to the FD sidewall by Velcro. That, along with the wipes, is normally sufficient to make each FD as clean as any individual pilot wants it. Rubbish is never left by preceeding crews -simply an unwritten, unspoken, culture. Prior to fitting the brushes pilots would generally carry their own paint brushes -if concerned enough.:O

Just yesterday, flying in the cruise, a hostie was in the cockpit with me while the captain went to the toilet. She kept tapping the captain's seat back and loads of dust kept flying out into the air. It was probably dead skin and was absolutely disgusting!! I guess the seats never get vacuumed do they? I didn't ask why the hostie was simulating hitting the captain by the way. Don't ask, don't tell.

True Story:

I used to fly with a Captain who was a stickler for keeping things clean in the flight-deck, and quite rightly so.

One day he brought in some "Mr Sheen", and when we were trimmed out and in the cruise, he liberally sprayed the entire instrument panel with this household cleaner, and left it for a few minutes to do it's magic.

Unfortunately "Mr Sheen" turned out to be black magic, and the white stencil writing which had been on the various grimy control panels, all dissolved and the paint ran before our very eyes.

The captain hurriedly tried to wipe off the cleaning fluid, and it created an almighty mess.

The next day was spent trying to paint the lettering back in with some Humbrol white enamel paint.

End of story.


The last thing I do before I leave the flight deck, now that I am the Captain is take a last look around and make sure that it is in a tidy state and nothing has been left behind.

Lead by example and instill in your subordinates the values you expect them to adopt.

:)

Another facet of cockpit hygene is, of course, the tendency of some pilots to transfer their proboscidiferous excrescences from soggy, germ infested tissues to the power levers, thrust taps or whatever, thereby contributing significantly to the morbific spread of coughs and sneezes, especially in the winter season.
For this reason, I advocate a cockpit policy of one Kleenex, one blow and a liberal application of Dettol Disinfectant Spray to all surfaces which might be contaminated or subject to deturpation.
Perhaps, quite apart from twiddling the knobs, that's another reason to sport those sensual off-white kid gloves so beloved of those who suffer from perspirative palms.:D

...yes, unfortunately some guys need to take a little more care of their personal hygiene also. There's nothing worse than sharing a cockpit for 8 hours with a guy who has BO.
Ever heard of Right Guard? Use it!

Interesting poll but it would be more revealing if it exposed which airlines had the dirtiest flight decks :O

I am not a professional pilot so could not vote :{ However as flight crew I all ways leave my station clean and tidy including the panel and table as a coutesy to the on coming crew member. Wish I could say the same for the two pilots :E

...and perhaps they might wish the same of you! :ok:

Picking up on missioncontrol's point, pilots must never, ever be tempted to use anything other than a dry brush to clean the more apparent dirt and a sterile wipe for the control column and thrust levers.
Believe it or not, cleaning has to be carried out in accordance with approved data (maintenance manuals etc) using approved materials.

The other day I found a bottle of water (halffull) upside down behing the FO's seat, right next to the high voltage CB's. Why do some of us don't pay attention to this kind of details?

Nick

;)
So---
Alcohol flavoured early morning spittle is a big No No then?:ugh:

I have noticed that I get so dirty from touching the controls that instead of using the sanicom disinfectant tissues to clean the cockpit controls before the flight, I now use them to clean my hands and fingers after the flight.

dirty cockpits
 

great forum. i too am seriously annoyed with the state of the cockpit in my company. as previously said there is a general unwritten rule to take all your stuff out before you leave but its the grime left behind from people eating and sitting in the same place for extended periods of time that needs removal. does anybody know if servisair provide a flight deck cleaning service. are they the same cleaners that clean the plane (i realise they need extra training to go up front)

ps i though the final remark in a previous post regarding leading you subordinates by example hilarious! great crm:ok:

airline free immunization for pilots
 

I love this forum!!:D

Last 2 companies I flew for had strict policies about living the flight deck clean and tidy. Neverless our "office" appeared always to be in need of of a good cleaning. I think it's just staying hours in the same seat, eating, writing, reading and sometimes sweating.

I personally don't feel too much unconfortable about this. And it's years I don't get a serious cold or any similar contagious deseases. Did I become immune? Did I get a benefical effect by staying exposed to millions of germs my collegues spread?:rolleyes:

Didn't a meddling cleaner once manage to crank an engine or is it an urban myth?

Four points I would like to make regarding this very relevant thread (Thanks HKG Phooey for starting it).

1.
I agree wholeheartedly with Metroman on page one of this thread.
It is our job to keep the Flight Deck tidy, but we are pilots not cleaners.
So while it is our job to make sure charts are put away properly and in order, cups and waste paper put in the bins provided and the place left in a neat and tidy manner, we are not cleaners and as such removing grime and accumulated 'other wastes' is not our job.

2.
I also agree with Rollingthunder on page 4 of this thread.
He lists some basic, simple strategies that would, at minimal cost and effort from all involved, keep the Flight Deck at a high standard of cleanliness.

3.
One of the only times I, as a Captain, pull rank and do the 'mean and nasty' is when the First Officer I am flying with tries to leave our workspace in a mess.
I have no problem whatsoever ORDERING him / her back in there to tidy up their mess.
Word gets around.
In twelve years I've only had to do this twice.
F.O.s who have a reputation for leaving the Flight Deck messy
(a) don't try it with me,
and
(b) if they know I'm flying the aircraft after them, they make sure they leave it in a state befitting its importance.

4.
I hate hiding behind such vague words as 'Airmanship' or 'Professionalism', so instead I will suggest that the state a pilot leaves his flight deck is
* a comment on his resposibilities reguarding health and safety in the workplace
* a comment of his opinion of his colleagues
* a comment on the standards he accepts in other aspects of his career.

On this last point, the same can be said of the Company Management who don't do anything about Flight Deck cleaning.

The sad thing is that while we all gripe about it, this thread will run out of steam and disappear but the problem won't.

I always carried a three inch paint brush in my nav bag to dust off the pedestal. I still have it and use it to dust my keyboard, printer and fax machine.

errr, yeah ok?!? :confused:

Why be sarcastic? It happens to be the best way to clean your keyboard, as well as the crevices in the fax and/or printer.

:cool:

L Peacock,

Don't know about the cleaners starting engnes, but there is always an added danger of having them cleaning the flight deck post flight when a Training Captains has parked the kite and gone home with one of the engines still running. It happens. ;)

Upsets the baggage handlers too. :D

Are you referring to a BMA DC9?

But will it? I guess it needs to be an issue taken up by the likes of BALPA....and let's not get into a Dan Air argument about the merits of them.........

They represent a broad spectrum of the pilot workforce throughout the UK. They have the ability to make this an issue if enough of us raise it with them. They seem keen to jump on legislation (especially the EU variety) when it suits, so surely there must be something regarding our work environment and the amount of cleanliness required in law? Or are we immune from 'normal' workplace legislation, just like Working Time Directives?????

PP

I once had the pleasure to fly for Lauda Air. Well , the pleasure was the actual aircraft. They were the cleanest flight decks ever seen. A 7 year old 737 had a floor you could eat off. Paint brushes everywhere , the slightest paint scratch professionally 'airbrushed ' out , daily hoovering and woe betide any crew who left it at all scruffy , or with fingerprints anywhere. It felt like flying one 'out of the box ' everyday .
It was akin to Niki lending you one of his Mercs/Ferraris and so on ............ The aircraft were also his babies.
It is quite easy to keep them so from the start. Discipline.