It is becoming common knowledge that bed bug infestations are increasing in hotels and motels. However, you may not have heard much about the increase in bed bug infestations aboard airline flights, but many people are being terrorized by these blood suckers while being thousands of feet in the air. Although the media has reported on numerous bed bug infestations on airplanes, many victims believe that the public is largely unaware of how often bed bug-related incidents occur during airline flights. This is why many people are taking to social media to share their stories concerning bed bug encounters on airplanes.
Recently, British Airways was forced to fumigate two airplanes after bed bugs were discovered during flights. Despite the fact that British Airways had been aware of a bed bug presence on the planes, they did very little to address the problem. In response to the lack of action taken by the airline to eradicate the bed bugs, one British Airways customer has started his own website where other angry bed bug victims can post their own complaints about the insects that they have found aboard airline flights. The person who started the website, Zane Selkirk, first posted pictures of the injuries that she had sustained from bed bugs while aboard a British Airways flight. The pictures showed bed bug bites covering her hands, legs and feet. Once these pics went viral, British Airways finally took action to eradicate the bed bug presence within their airplanes. Last year, another person who had been attacked by bed bugs on a United Airlines flight sent a letter to the New York Times detailing his experience. Despite all of these complaints, and the fact that bed bugs on airplanes is clearly a problem, very few statistics, if any, on bed bug problems within airplanes can be found. So far, bed bug complaints have been reported solely by business class customers, and not first class fliers.
Do you think that bed bugs will be on your mind the next time you fly an airline? Or do you prefer bed bug-free first class?
