Passenger’s ‘disgusting’ mid-flight act on busy plane sparks fury and health warning from experts

A passenger on a packed flight has been left horrified after a fellow traveller was seen picking at the skin on their feet during the journey.

The incident was described in an online forum, Reddit, by another passenger, who claimed the woman removed her shoes mid-flight before repeatedly peeling skin from her bare feet while seated among other travellers.

“Lady next to me on the flight started picking at the dead skin on her BARE FEET,” the witness shared in the viral thread.

Photos in the post show the woman holding her bare foot up on her knee as she picks at the skin around her toenails.

A Sydney-based podiatrist has warned the vile act is not just poor in-flight etiquette but also a potential health risk to other people on board.

“Picking your skin and nails on your feet is particularly disgusting because you use your hands to do this,” Dr Kate Edwards told news.com.au.

“Are you actually cleaning your hands afterwards, or are you touching everything around you – your food, drinks, seatbelts, TV screens, doors?”

Dr Edwards explained that performing an in-flight pedicure increases the chances of bacteria, fungus and yeast being transferred from shared surfaces on an aircraft.

“Now, barefoot on planes is also gross, as you are walking in everyone else’s fungus, bacteria, and yeast, then popping your feet into a warm, dark, moist sock or shoe. This will breed like wildfire,” she added.

She advises all passengers to keep their shoes on during the duration of a flight.

Poor in-flight etiquette isn’t uncommon among travellers. Virgin passenger Justin Fok was recently left repulsed by another traveller’s vile act on board a domestic flight.

The videographer was flying from Sydney to Brisbane for a film festival when another passenger removed her shoes and placed her bare feet beside him.

“Her feet started stretching and edging closer and over to my seat,” he said.

“When I prompted her to stop, she being in the middle seat, switched sides and proceeded to lay her feet on the other unfortunate soul on the other side!”

The “gross” encounter started on the wrong foot when the 27-year-old boarded the plane to find the passenger sitting in his assigned seat.

“After I politely asked her to move she scooted over and didn’t stand up, despite the whole row being empty, so I had to awkwardly squeeze past her, not a huge issue, but a bit odd,” Mr Fok said.

“During the safety briefings, she was talking loudly on the phone on speaker, despite being the time for airplane mode.”