Seen At 11: Airline Cost Cuts Could Expose Passengers To Unsanitary Conditions

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- You pay good money to fly, but end up with less leg room, tighter seats, and little overhead storage.

What's worse, CBS2 has found that airlines are now skimping on something else and the secret could make you sick.

Janet Masters remembers her anniversary trip to Hawaii fondly.

"A great time away, relaxing," she recalled.

But it was her flight back home on United Airlines that was truly unforgettable.

"I've seen and dealt with a lot of gross things," she said.

Masters said she dug into the seat back pocket in front of her and pulled out something other than a magazine.

"Here's someone's bodily fluids that I'm being exposed to," she said.

It was an air sickness bag that she said was filled to the brim.

"Smelling that smell was just totally, totally disgusting," she said.

You may think that in between flights planes get scrubbed down, but there are no regulations requiring airlines to do that.

Travel experts said, when pinched economically it's one of the first areas that carriers cut spending.

A meeting of scientists from the American Society of Microbiology revealed that disease-causing bacteria will linger on plane surfaces for up to a week.

Another study suggested that your risk of catching a cold is increased by 20 percent when on a plane, with much of the danger coming from the people sitting within two rows of you.

"It's so yikes, it's so beyond yikes," flight attendant Shawn Kathleen said.

Kathleen said passengers only make the situation worse.

"There was a gentleman treating his warts with Compound W," she said.

She's been so shocked at the unsanitary behavior of travelers, she started a passenger shaming website chronicling all the things people leave behind on planes from banana peels and gum to dirty diapers and even men's underwear.

Kathleen said it's no wonder planes are filthy, when passengers clip toe nails, dry their shoes with the air vent, and shamelessly stick their bare feet everywhere.

"The airline should be responsible for that," consumer attorney Stuart Talley said.

Talley said regardless of what passengers do the airlines are responsible for the plane's cleanliness just like they are for lost luggage.

"Getting a refund off your ticket price would seem to be a reasonable result," Talley said.

United said flight attendants are trained to clean the cabins, and have special kits to do so, but they didn't say how often that gets done.

As for the Masters, United offered to change their seat assignment, and offered the couple a $300 credit.