Althouse: Bedbugs on airplanes.

January 2, 2025

Bedbugs on airplanes.

I'm reading "Passengers Say Turkish Airlines Flights Have Unwelcome Guests: Bedbugs/Passengers on several of the carrier’s flights said the biting pests were on seats, blankets and in overhead bins and that the airline did not take action" (NYT).

17 comments:

James K said...: Ugh. But I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often, given that passengers are coming from hotels and bringing their carry-ons. The airline would have to take the plane out of service to get it de-bugged. Probably the best way is to heat up the interior for an hour or two to kill them.; 1/2/25, 12:58 PM
Aggie said...: That's what I was going to say - park it in the sun on a north African taxiway for a few days and problem solved.; 1/2/25, 1:15 PM
Breezy said...: Replace TSA with a bedbug patrol.; 1/2/25, 1:38 PM
Enigma said...: Replace the word airplane with "New York City" and "Broadway Theaters." There is nothing but bedbugs and rats in NYC these days, and they sometimes take human form.; 1/2/25, 1:55 PM
mikeski said...: Rats? On the West Side.

Bedbugs? Uptown.; 1/2/25, 2:03 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Any Greeks reading this article are having a laugh riot.; 1/2/25, 2:09 PM
Wince said...: "Bedbugs on airplanes."

Bedbugs on stagecoaches.; 1/2/25, 4:26 PM
walter said...: Emotional support bug multiplied.; 1/2/25, 5:24 PM
Aggie said...: Dude. Sweep the attic.; 1/2/25, 5:51 PM
robother said...: Really, bedbugs? Bedbugs come dangerously close to padding.; 1/2/25, 5:56 PM
Narr said...: There's a lot of interesting stuff about Turks and sex in Baer's book "The Ottomans" but I'll just throw this paragraph out as an instance of the truth of the saying (that I just made up) that history is not only more weird and complex than we imagine, it is more weird and complex than we -can- imagine.

The context is decline and defeat at the hands of the Hapsburgs and Romanovs in the early 18th C., and Christians and Jews and women getting uppity.

"Janissary-connected, beardless Albanian youth who worked who worked in public baths as shampooers and prostitutes pleasuring mature men bedevilled Ottoman authorities throughout the eighteenth century 57. As the Collection [of Christian boys to be converted, educated, and trained as soldiers and administrators] fell into disuse, Janissary applicants as young as eight years old but most on the verge of puberty were permitted to live in the Janissary barracks and serve Janissaries until they grew facial hair. In private, they attended to their master's needs. In public, the young boys wore veils over their faces so that other men could not gaze upon their beardless faces and desire them 58. Because they were not paid a salary, some of these Janissary interns worked in the public baths as shampooers and prostitutes in order to earn a living 59. One such man led a revolt that toppled a sultan."

Comedy gold.; 1/2/25, 6:05 PM
Narr said...: Damn. I just spent several minutes typing in a paragraph from Baer's book "The Ottomans," saw it publish . . . and now it's gone.; 1/2/25, 6:20 PM
Narr said...: I guess I'll try again on the cafe' post.; 1/2/25, 6:43 PM
Narr said...: My posts are being fucked with. Anyone else having 'now you see it, now you don't' issues?; 1/2/25, 7:02 PM
Douglas2 said...: "The airline did not take action" leaves me wondering what action, during a flight, these complainants propose?
I see examples of passengers being moved, even to flight-attendant jump-seats, to get them away from the seats with visible bedbugs, discussion of the airline's logistics of dealing with the infestation between flights, and discussion of the attempts by airline customer-service to assuage or further-annoy affected passegers.
But it starts out with essentially "I reported it to the attendant, who did nothing to fix the problem", and I'm wondering what sort of fix was expected.; 1/2/25, 9:19 PM
walter said...: Prepare for pre-board fumigations.; 1/2/25, 10:13 PM
Rocco said...: I don’t think they’ll get their own movie, unlike Snakes on a Plane.; 1/3/25, 1:07 PM