flyhen

Just a thought stemming from my recent flight BR68, LHR-TPE, with a stoppage at BKK.

While I fly the entire LHR-TPE duration, I noticed the seat behind me, 2A, had two different passengers, one from LHR-BKK, the other one BKK-TPE. While I am 99% sure (I sure hope I am 100%) that starting at LHR, all the blankets and pillows are new, but I know for sure the pillows for the BKK-TPE leg are the ones left over from previous leg, i.e. someone might drool all over it the night before.

Why do I ask? on my LH797 HKG-FRA flight, I thought I noticed something odd on my LH pillow, be it a smell, or whatever, I wasn't entirely sure it was cleaned/new, even though I got assured by the FA that those are new. Too tired to care, I went lie-flat and zonked out immediately anyways. Albeit all those concerns, I woke up when we were flying over Eastern Europe. Think I slept at least 7 hours. Kudos to LH's new 748 seat 87A.

Anyone thoughts?

TaipeiWang

I know that they change the pillow cases for all empty seats on the stop in BKK when you fly Emirates HKG - DXB via BKK. Not quite sure about the Taiwanese though..

flyhen

Just remember a friend is a former BR FA, I will get the low down from her soon.

superangrypenguin

Thats why I bring my own Tempur Pedic Pillow :-)

JDiver

This best fits a broader topic; moving it to TravelBuzz expands opportunities for participation considerably.

JDiver
Senior Moderator

pragakhan

I just assume nothing on a plane is cleaned, ever.

Fragola

I flew UL recently CMB-BKK, then BKK-HKG. The empty seats were definitely groomed, with blankets and pillows on the empty seats changed at BKK. Seatback pockets were emptied, seats were wiped down, carpeting was vaccumed. Everyone flying both segments had to stay on board while this happened so I got a full view of the process. The originating flight departed late, otherwise I'm sure we would have been kicked off while the cleaning crew went to work.

The blanket was presented sealed in a bag while the pillow was not, and these were the regular economy class amenities.

Paul56

I always make the assumption that everything in the
aircraft is covered with something disgusting I do not
want to make contact with.

jill5172

I was on a Delta TATL a couple of weeks ago up front. The passenger next to me opened his sealed blanket package and found a pair of used socks (the throwaway pair in the amenity kit) inside. The flight attendants were surprised and just gave him another blanket, but it definitely supports the position stated above: just assume everything is dirty.

bigsilverjet

Probably as often as they shampoo the carpet.. or scrub and disinfect the armrests and seat pockets.

buttking

Hello, im curious about this as well. on short haul RJ's they have such quick turn arounds the clean up crew only has time to collect trash. on bigger jets maybe they would get around to restocking. where the blankets go after being restocked is perhaps at the mercy of the supplies department. id imagine commercial laundering of all the blankets be a bit expensive but i sure hope they do it

OskiBear

I always assume that unless they are in a sealed package, they have not been recently cleaned - if ever.

That said, I once had a blanket on a UA flight that smelled terribly musty after it came out of the wrapper and the flight attendant was nice enough to rustle up a new one for me.

flyhen

Finally got in touch with my BR FA friend, and it's confirmed, those long haul routes pillows do get changed when they are at their final destination, along with the blankets. e.g. TPE-SFO where the pillows/blankets will be refreshed on both ends, but for the TPE-BKK-LHR or other similar routes, passengers only fly the 2nd part will be stuck with used ones. Reason? not enough time.

Similarly, one can also assume those short regional flights dont get refreshed either.


of course, I am speaking strictly of BR only.

Fragola

That's better than a pair of used socks falling out! Good to assume everything is dirty. The blanket only makes contact with the clothes I'm wearing that are exposed to public spaces. Even if the pillow is presented as "new" and neatly set on the seat I don't let it make contact with my head or face. After all it could have fallen on the floor. To be honest I roll the flabby pillow up and use it as a lumbar rest.

China Clipper

Not an unreasonable assumption, except in case of the few premium asian airlines.
They actually care about cleanliness, and other things as well.

Edit: Post below is accurate as well. I forgot about Germans & Nordics!
Might add Swiss to the list too.