It’s probably not something people often think about, but even airport lounges can be shut down by local health authorities. Here’s the latest example of that…
In this post:
United Club PHL forced to cease operations temporarily
OMAAT reader Alex was passing through Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) this afternoon, and while on the people mover, he noticed that the United Club was dark. He then also noticed a bright yellow and white sign from the Department of Health.
The sign directed the location to cease operations, for being in violation of the local codes. Interestingly, the closure is as of today, September 29, 2025, so this is a brand new closure.
This happens more often than you might assume. Some people might not be shocked to hear that airport lounges sometimes don’t use the highest standards in maintaining cleanliness, etc., and yes, there’s actually enforcement for that.
Why was the United Club Philadelphia shut down?
The United Club Philadelphia inspection took place today, between 10:40AM and 1:30PM local time. You can find the full food facility inspection report here. So, in what areas was the lounge not compliant with local codes? Truth be told, I’ve seen much worse reports, so here’s a summary of the areas in which the lounge wasn’t compliant:
1 No person shall operate a food establishment that handles, prepares or serves non-prepackaged potentially hazardous food who does not have present and in the employ of the food establishment at all hours of operation at least one (1) person with a valid Food Establishment Personnel Food Safety Certificate issued by the Department. The person in charge has a class certificate but no Philadelphia Health Department issued Food Manager Food Safety Certificate. The application will be emailed with this report.
8 Soap and a handwash reminder sign was not available at the handwash sink in the food prep area. These items were provided during the inspection.
8 Hot water (at or above 100 degrees F) was not readily available at the handwash sink in the food prep area. The water was probed at 74.8 degrees F maximum. The person in charge turned on the hot water at the pipe below the hand sink during the inspection.
14 The sanitizer and dish detergent dispensers at the prep area 3 bay sink are not working. The person in charge manually added the required solutions. Staff are presently using the warewash machine.
36 -Visible physical evidence of insect (fly infestation) activity observed in the men’s toilet room area. -Visible physical evidence of insect (flies) activity observed in the bar area.
39 Sponges observed in the garbage grinder sink being used to clean food contact surfaces.
41 Food dispensing utensil in the corn nuts observed in direct contact with food and not having handle stored above the top of the food.
45 Equipment not in good repair: -The sanitizer and dish detergent dispensers are not working at the 3 bay sink in the food prep area. -Splash guard is not provided between the food prep sink and the handsink. -An under counter refrigerators in the bar area is not maintaining a temperature of 41 degrees F or lower. Do not use any refrigerator to store potentially hazardous foods that can not maintain a temperature of 41 degrees F or lower.
47 Observations: -Flies observed landing on surfaces in the bar area. -Black staining in lower cabinets in the serving area.
48 Hot water was not available at the prep area hand sink. Water at or above 100 degrees F was provided during the inspection.
49 -Observed drainage pipes from coffee dispenser sitting inside the catch basin rather than twice the diameter of the water inlet pipe and/or at least a 1 inch air gap above the catch basin. -The food prep sink pipe is sitting within the catch basin rather than at least twice the diameter of the water inlet line or 1 inch above the catch basin.
51 Small flies observed on sink counter, walls, and ceiling surfaces in the men’s toilet room.
53 Observations: -Food debris on floor perimeters in the food prep area. -Soiled catch basin in the cabinets in the service area. -Damaged and moved ceiling tiles in the rear storage area.
53 Mop observed stored in the bucket rather than hanging on a utility rack.
As you can see, most of the issues involve water temperature, general cleanliness, and how items are stored in the food preparation area.
Bottom line
The United Club Philadelphia is closed temporally, after failing a Department of Health inspection. If there’s any silver lining, at least it wasn’t shut down due to some massive cockroach infestation, or something. This happens more often than you’d think, so it’s always interesting to keep an eye on these Department of Health signs at airports. I’ll avoid jokes about Philadelphia Airport’s reputation of being “Filthadelphia.”
It's because they have trash employees working there, like most cities in the US. Uneducated low-lifes who shouldn't even have jobs.
I got severe shits from the United Club at SFO. Spent an entire flight to CDG in the lav.
Ouch....that is a harsh comment don't you think?
Harsh? What convent did you walk out of?
No, not as harsh as the shits United never apologized for.
Everyone with any business in Philly knows to bribe any inspector.
These lounges can get gross. The most disgusting one I ever saw was the Amex Lounge at MIA, upon which I walked around looking for a place to sit, everywhere I looked plates with partially eaten food was sitting on tables, the men's room was beyond disgusting, and the staff inattentive and surly. I find the MIA AA clubs also less than stellar in the cleanliness department. Unfortunately I have to connect thru MIA more...
These lounges can get gross. The most disgusting one I ever saw was the Amex Lounge at MIA, upon which I walked around looking for a place to sit, everywhere I looked plates with partially eaten food was sitting on tables, the men's room was beyond disgusting, and the staff inattentive and surly. I find the MIA AA clubs also less than stellar in the cleanliness department. Unfortunately I have to connect thru MIA more than I would like with TPA (which has a very nice albeit smallish AA club) as my home airport.
Covid, what Covid? I don't remember that. Did it happen? Was there concern of contact virus and bacteria. I don't remember that either.
All those who passed on remember it.
Disgraceful United and all the rest.
The Philadelphia American Airlines lounge was pretty gross in August 2025.
Can someone explain to me the last sentence of the yellow sign? "..imprisonment of 90 days per day.."
This means that for each day the establishment stays open, or admits persons unnecessary for correcting the violations is another 90 days added to the sentence. So if the United Club stayed open for 3 days after the notice was posted, the responsible party/parties could get a 270 day sentence. I don’t see a judge imposing that harsh a sentence, but… they could under the law, apparently.
I'm actually surprised to learn that Philadelphia has a Health Dept.
In theory they do....but they only check airport lounges.
and in Frankfurt airport (Germany) you have lots of mice in the lufthansa Lounges and in the whole terminal. they do not really get rid of it. and in London I just saw one on the weekend in the Lufthansa lounge.
As long they are not near the food I have no problem with that. Mostly they are running from one edge of the room to the other or hide under a armchair.
I also just saw a mouse in HAM LH lounge last week. Probably a new campaing by Spohr to sell another Lounge type that is mouse-free.
But at least Spohr is centralizing the deployment of the mice, right?
I have reported the infamous Schiphol lounge mice to the local authority who responded basically stating they were extremely uninterested in dealing with my report and I could speak to KLM as the lounge operators (mousekeepers).
I had a friendly conversation with a Schiphol security officer to whom I pointed out a visible mouse. I said I understood that the Dutch don't want to use chemical poison to kill mice, but that they could easily bring in some cats at night to hunt and it would reduce the mouse population and also be fun and good exercise for the cats.
all things considered this is far from the worst health inspection report i've read
The friendly flies of United!
Go Birds
One of the mice from the PHL AC clubs called the tip line
I had an experience OTP and used it here a few months back. I do recall the men's room was not that clean.
And the food was pretty bad even for UA standards.
None of this is that surprising.
Any restaurant or lounge in Europe would be closed for not being in compliance with these
Yet in 30 years living in Europe I have not heard of as many outbreaks of food borne illness as I have in the years i lived here. I really genuinely wonder why
A short search revealed the following: (link: belganewsagency.eu/more-than-450-companies-temporarily-closed-over-food-safety-violations)
Widespread inspections reveal violations
The FASFC conducted 107,508 inspection missions at over 58,000 companies across Belgium. Of these inspections, 15 per cent resulted in an "unfavourable report." Most led to warnings (15,524), formal reports (9,931) or product seizures (1,673). In 467 cases, the agency ordered temporary closures, up from just under 400 in 2023.
"A closure always involves an acute danger to public health," explained FASFC...
A short search revealed the following: (link: belganewsagency.eu/more-than-450-companies-temporarily-closed-over-food-safety-violations)
Widespread inspections reveal violations
The FASFC conducted 107,508 inspection missions at over 58,000 companies across Belgium. Of these inspections, 15 per cent resulted in an "unfavourable report." Most led to warnings (15,524), formal reports (9,931) or product seizures (1,673). In 467 cases, the agency ordered temporary closures, up from just under 400 in 2023.
"A closure always involves an acute danger to public health," explained FASFC spokesperson Hélène Bonte. "In such cases, various serious violations are almost always found, such as the presence of vermin and very poor hygiene."
This is just Belgium.
Good to see they were shut down, though i wonder if that's enough incentive to change things. Some of these violations may sound trivial but can make people quite sick. People not being able to wash their hands with soap and hot water is a problem. Just a reminder to skip the food in the United Club, or to skip the United Club altogether.
Filthadelphia
Yupp
Health inspector here, from a different state. If these Philadelphia inspectors came to my state they would shut down every single food establishment here. These deficiencies are not severe and do not pose an imminent risk to the public. In my state, these issues would knock down the establishment's grade from A to a B, potentially to a C if the health inspector was in a bad mood. The only issue that is concerning is...
Health inspector here, from a different state. If these Philadelphia inspectors came to my state they would shut down every single food establishment here. These deficiencies are not severe and do not pose an imminent risk to the public. In my state, these issues would knock down the establishment's grade from A to a B, potentially to a C if the health inspector was in a bad mood. The only issue that is concerning is the fridge in the bar with temperatures above 41F, but only if there were perishable food stored there. This being the bar, I bet it was only beer and beverages, which do not spoil in temperatures above 41F. So, not a problem. Also, we are trained not to check fridge temps during peak business hours when the fridges get accessed constantly because no fridge is going to keep temps below 41F when they are opened every 10 seconds. Closing this lounge was an overkill.
I also have past experience in the inspections side. I'm thinking this may be a repeat problem that has been previously cited, with no changes found during re-inspection. The lack of sanitizer in the wash sinks is a bit problematic, but sounds like it was corrected at the time of inspection. Aside from the one cooler above 41, no other temp control issues were noted particularly with foods.
Please tell us what state you operate in, so that I can make sure to NOT eat there....
Yeah seriously, as a guest I am not concerned by a single one of these reports except maybe the flies? I agree every restaurant in the US would be closed if this health inspector got his way. They clearly missed a bribe payment.
I'm curious which issues were the catalyst for the shutdown. Several of these are pretty thin gruel. My favorite is the scoop for the corn nuts being "left in contact with food" -- that is, in the corn nuts jar, rather than up top. Is some UA lounge employee supposed to follow guests around making sure that every guest puts the spoon back in the right place?
You provide a spoon that is too big relative to container size for it to be possible for the handle to be in contact with the food.
You provide a large utensil that will not be buried or you keep an eye on the area. I really find the description gross.
While miraculously most people do not get sick with every lapse in procedures the potential is there. My degree is in a health field and I have seen inspectors concerned with the quality of water coming out of a tap. (Rightfully so.)
Hate to think of the violations at the SF F gate lounge. Every time I go in there I feel I need to sanitise my hands on the way out. Please refurbish
This reminds me of my college job. I had my Serve Safe certificate, but had forgotten to submit it to the health department (just so they could give me their own certificate for the same thing). At least we got off with a warning and weren't shut down.
Very premium shut downs just like the Centurion lounge health code violations at ATL and CLT
They have been so focused on being one of the two premium airlines, you can forgive them for forgetting about some off hub lounge in Philly.
Reminds me of the old classic Fawlty Towers sketch when the food inspector comes to visit.