They don't clean the planes. Like you may think when they go in for maintenance they get a deep clean or whatever? Nah. Between flights? It might get a wipe down if it looks too dirty but probably not. Every now and again someone has to wipe the lavatories and the galley, but that's it.
False. I briefly worked on a crew that cleaned commercial airliners between flights. We cleaned every single seat, deep cleaned the lavatories etc. We were required to inspect every single seat to make sure nothing was left behind that someone could use as a weapon or could endanger the next passengers.
The disease risk in airports and airplanes is not rooted in sanitation. It's rooted in having thousands of people who come from all over the planet mingling together, where nobody got to postpone their flight just because they were feeling sick that day. So if George from New York was sneezing that morning, he still gets on his plane and flies to London because it would be $500 to postpone his trip. And now his germs are in the plane ten hours later.
When your immune system tells you to take a break, but the economy tells you not to, the economy is on the side of pandemics.
Last minute refunds are a public health concern. It should be federally regulated to always be able to fully refund your tickets, and non-refundable tickets should be prohibited.
It actually does. The ventilation system in the flying metal tube has HEPA filters. There's not one of those in the gate waiting area between you and the person sitting next to you who's sniffling and sneezing. Airplanes themselves are pretty okay; airports are filthy. When do the bins your shoes go in get bleached exactly?