BOSTON (WHDH) - Passengers aren’t the only ones running through the Boston Logan International Airport. Mice are scurrying around too!
“I saw at least, maybe, five or six,” said Trina who flew out of Logan. “They just run around.”
Trina spotted the critters scurrying in Terminal B at Logan this summer after she missed a connecting flight.
“I was just shocked by the level of rodents,” she said. “I just immediately started calling the airlines trying to get any flight and get the heck out of there because I was like I am not staying the night in this airport.”
She’s not the only passenger alarmed by the mice.
Multiple travelers have captured rodents peeking out from walls, running under people’s feet and even fighting for food right in the open.
“I was freaked out. I’m like, ‘What the hell?” said Massachusetts resident Desmond Kaplan.
Kaplan is a frequent flier out of the Logan airport and said he spots the pests all the time. Last month he videotaped mice running under the chairs in Terminal B.
“You would sit there long enough and they would come up to you … it was bad,” he remembered. “You were seeing them run all up and down the hallway. Near the restaurants; everywhere.”
7 Investigates first highlighted the issue of mice at the airport in 2022. At the time, the airport received 76 complaints related to the rodents in three years. Since then, 7 Investigates found 91 complaints were reported.
Now passengers are concerned about rodents near the airport restaurants.
“I was mostly thinking, oh my god I just ate at this airport,” Trina said.
Kaplan said he avoids eating at the airport.
7 Investigates found since 2023, nine airports have failed health inspection due to rodents.
Boston health inspection reports reveal mice droppings were spotted at a bar, in a prep area, at a serving line, behind a stove and next to a fridge. A live mouse was even caught in the dining area of one restaurant. Another had a dead mouse in the prep area.
Zac Brown, the general manager at Clancy Brothers Pest Control in Quincy, agreed with travelers that mice at the airport and near restaurants are a concern.
“Mice are going to create sanitation issues, they are going to transmit diseases. They are going to cause allergens and contaminate food sources,” Brown explained. “It’s definitely a health hazard for people.”
However, Boston Inspection Services said people should not be concerned for their health at the airport.
“We take any and all rodent activities, whether seen or reported to us very seriously. We conduct immediate inspections and follow-ups based on the complaint received,” said Dan Prendergast, the assistant commissioner of the Boston Inspectional Services Health Division.
City inspectors conduct routine and complaint-based inspections of airport restaurants. If a mouse or signs of a mouse is spotted, inspectors require further steps.
“We set compliance dates with the businesses to ensure follow-up is done, extermination services are provided and a compliance inspection to ensure everything has been addressed,” Prendergast said.
Additionally, Prendergast said the airport and the restaurants have a pest management plan and his team has been meeting with airport officials recently to discuss further strategies for all of Logan.
Prendergast said he recommended the airport hire just one exterminator for the entire airport and work with an industry consultant.
“I am encouraged by what I’ve heard after the last meeting with them as we check in with them and continue to work with them regarding issues,” he said. “It’s imperative for us to work to find solutions, programs, and processes that best address rodent activity.”
Massport is the agency that runs the Boston airport. Massport officials said there is an exterminator station at the airport daily and constantly on call. Officials also pointed to the age of airport buildings and a string of construction projects as factors that also make eliminating the pests entirely a challenge.
“Massport takes any and all complaints we receive seriously, especially ones about health and safety, and the overall cleanliness of our facilities. When Massport receives a complaint about any of our facilities, the issue is immediately addressed,” a spokesperson for Massport wrote.
A spokesperson for the agency declined an on-camera interview writing that “Logan is not the only public facility with mice.”
But some travelers aren’t buying that more can’t be done.
“I don’t care what they do, I just don’t want to see them,” Kaplan said.
Prendergast encourages travelers who see mice to report the sightings to 311. People can also report to Massport.
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