It's arguably worse than snakes on a plane: bedbugs. The New York Times speaks with a few passengers who flew Turkish Airlines in 2024 and allege they encountered bedbugs on their flights—and that their concerns were dismissed by the airline. One Arizona woman says she photographed a bedbug on the seat of her Johannesburg-to-Istanbul flight in March and alerted a flight attendant, who she claims removed the bug but acted unconcerned. She said she complained to Turkish Airlines but received only denials, despite her photo. The Times flags two more alleged incidents, both on October flights in and out of Istanbul.
In one case, bedbugs allegedly fell from the ceiling and forced passengers to move seats; in the second, a woman says she noted 13 bite marks on her skin upon the flight's completion. There's only so much a flier with such accusations can do: There are no rules around how an airline must compensate travelers in the event of an insect infestation. "Passengers' main recourse is through airlines' customer service departments or, failing that, small claims court," per the Times, which said Turkish Airlines did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A passenger on that first October flight says he was offered 10% off a future flight, though the offer expired in December 2024.
On the airlines' end, dealing with an infestation is no cheap or easy task. The head of aviation consulting firm Jet Research says the aircraft must be brought to a maintenance base to be bug-bombed, in a process that can take up to five days and cost the airline as much as $125,000 in treatment costs and lost revenue. The Independent flagged a Reddit post from an anonymous user who claimed they encountered a bedbug while sitting in first class on a domestic American Airlines flight. (More bedbugs stories.)
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