A travel industry expert is warning passengers to avoid using free blankets offered on some medium and long-haul flights, saying the items may not always be laundered between journeys when aircraft are on tight turnarounds.
LP Maurice, chief executive of travel-booking company Busbud, told Fodor's Travel that while airline linen contractors normally wash blankets at high temperatures and seal them individually, operational pressures can lead crews to reuse items that only appear unused.
Maurice said that on a standard long‑haul turnaround, "the linen carts roll straight off the aircraft and go to a contractor that washes at 60°C - 90°C with peroxide, dries on high heat, and shrink‑wraps each blanket or pillowcase." He added that "when you see a tight plastic envelope on your seat, it usually means that the item came off a wash line earlier that day."
However, he cautioned that the situation can change when schedules slip. "If the preceding flight landed late and the aircraft is turning in 25 minutes, crews will keep any blanket that looks unused. They fold it, place it back on the seat, and hope the next traveller does not notice," Maurice said. He also recounted that a line manager at "one busy hub" told him only about one in five economy blankets were actually washed, with the remainder simply folded unless visibly stained.
The warning follows a passenger account relayed to Fodor's Travel by travel adviser Georgia Fowkes, who said she once opened what appeared to be a sealed blanket and found "long hairs tucked inside the folds," along with foundation stains and a faint shampoo smell.
Airlines and their laundry contractors vary in procedures. Maurice described the ideal process — high-temperature washing with peroxide, high-heat drying and shrink‑wrapping — as a marker of freshly laundered linen. He framed the reuse practice as a response to operational constraints rather than routine policy, noting the distinction between items that come in sealed plastic and those returned to seats during short ground turns.
The accounts highlight hygiene and passenger-experience concerns amid an industry that routinely offers small comforts on longer routes. Passengers and crew members have long debated which freebies should be considered personal items and which are reliably clean. Some consumer-travel guides advise travellers who are concerned about cleanliness to carry their own blankets or sleep accessories, though airlines have not universally changed blanket-distribution policies in response to such reports.
Airlines typically publish their own cleaning and laundering policies on company websites or in customer-service materials. Passengers who wish to confirm procedures before flying are advised to consult an airline's official guidance or contact customer service directly.
This report is based on comments published by Fodor's Travel and summarized in a recent travel column. Quotations in this article are attributed to Busbud CEO LP Maurice and travel adviser Georgia Fowkes as reported to Fodor's Travel.