Major airline reportedly considers deluxe cleaning for premium seats only as passengers vent online

The Dallas-based airline is considering bringing in cabin cleaners between flights to clean only the premium extra legroom seat areas of the aircraft, according to reports. 

Coach cabins will reportedly not receive the same treatment.

"Southwest Airlines flight attendants tidy every aircraft between every flight today," a Southwest spokesperson told Fox News Digital Friday when asked about the reports.  

"That will continue, and, in addition, we are looking at potentially bringing in additional cleaners when needed, at certain airports to supplement - not replace - our standard cleaning efforts.

"We will continue to make sure our aircraft are ready for every customer, regardless of where their seats are on the plane," the spokesperson added.

An airline flight attendants union board member posted a since-deleted video for crew members, saying he was concerned about the experiment the airline was trying in which premium cabins would be cleaned between every flight but not the whole aircraft.

The individual claimed he got a memo from Southwest Tuesday about the new cleaning experiment.

"When passengers see what's going on, they're going to be very upset."

"Southwest Airlines [is] only gonna clean your seat if it smells like money," wrote an angry X user. "The rest of you peasants can sit in the germ-infested filth left behind by the rest of the poor people."

Facebook users felt differently.

"Bring your own wipes if you really want a clean seat," said one person. "People need to stop leaving a mess for the flight attendants to clean up."

Another Facebook user agreed, saying, "I don't ever trust anyone to clean my seat the way I want anyway. I always carry wipes to wipe everything down right as I sit down so I can try to keep germs at bay."

Said yet another Facebook user, "They pick up loose trash and lay the seat belts in the seats. I've sat down plenty of times with snack crumbs all around my feet."

Etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore of Florida said every airline passenger should be courteous.

Whitmore, who worked as a flight attendant for years, said it is generally the flight attendants' job to collect garbage throughout the flight, not the responsibility of a cleaning crew.

"I used to see this all the time," she said. "Passengers would change their baby's diaper on the seat. Then they might leave a dirty diaper on the seat."

Ultimately, the potential new cleaning policy from Southwest could affect flight attendants more than passengers.

"After everybody deplanes the flight, attendants will go through the cabin with one final sweep," Whitmore said.

"Personally, I'd be more upset if I were a flight attendant, not a passenger."

This is the second time in a week Southwest has taken heat from passengers.

Passengers say they have issues reading the seat numbers, run into snags with the boarding flow and are unable to spread out on the plane.

"We're always looking for ways to improve our customer experience to continue delivering the seamless and reliable travel journey that customers expect from Southwest," a company spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital's Ashley J. DiMella contributed reporting.