A Qantas passenger was taken by surprise when he discovered just how much dust came out of the seat next to him after repeatedly whacking it.
A Qantas passenger was taken by surprise when he discovered just how much dust came out of the seat next to him after repeatedly whacking it.
A Qantas passenger was taken by surprise when he discovered just how much dust came out of the seat next to him after repeatedly whacking it.
The passenger filmed the gross discovery on-board a domestic flight travelling from Sydney to Perth on August 10.
In the clip, which was shared to a private Facebook group, and obtained by the Daily Mail, the man can be seen hitting the empty space beside him four times with his hand.
The act caused large amounts of dust to rise into the air.
In a statement provided to news.com.au, a Qantas spokesperson said all of their aircraft are cleaned with a disinfectant between flights and at the end of the day.
"They also undergo deep cleaning on a regular basis, including the seat covers and cushions," the spokesperson said.
"Aircraft are also sprayed every month with an antimicrobial treatment that is an antibacterial which has anti-Covid and anti-flu properties."
Footage shows a Qantas passenger repeatedly whacking his hand on the seat which causes massive plumes of dust. Photo / Facebook
The spokesperson said, based on the video, it is unclear what has been spilt on the seat and when, however, they assured news.com.au the seat on the QF643 flight was "thoroughly cleaned yesterday".
Social media users were also stunned by the excessive amount of dust found in the seat.
"OMG that is foul," one woman commented, according to the Daily Mail.
Another person wrote it was a result of "years of build-up, human dead skin cells and billions of dust mites feeding on it".
"I won't be flying anywhere unless I really really have to at the moment … the quality of service of these airlines at the moment is appalling," one man commented.
Others defended the airline, saying any form of public transport experiences similar problems.
"That's the same no matter the transport, train, bus, coach, plane. This isn't something new," one person wrote. "Be glad for hepa filters."
"I discovered this too a few years ago when I plonked some books on to the seat beside a sunny window. Degrading foam dust … now that's a genuine reason to want to wear masks on flights," another added.
Last week, the airline announced its full yearly results for 2022, revealing an underlying loss before tax of almost $1.9 billion, and a statutory loss before tax of just under $1.2 billion.
In a press conference on Thursday, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was asked about the brand's reputation and whether or not it's been damaged. He said it has been but it will be fixed quickly.
"I think this time it's different. The brand has taken a hit. MPS has taken a hit, which is what we measure, and you'd expect that given the poor performance we've had," he told reporters amid the full yearly results.
"But what's different this time is every other airline is in the same boat. All airlines are giving bad service at the moment, and I've no doubt we're fixing this, our investment in new aircraft, new lounges, Frequent Flyer points, with the continued investment in new destinations, we'll recover the brand very rapidly."
