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Do they throw them away?
I think Qantas does. In fact, Qantas J (and presumably F) class uses those towels in the lavs, instead of paper towels. Passengers then toss them in the trash. Wasteful!</font>
A friend of mine once had a cleaning contract with Qantas (blankets, pillow covers, etc). When I asked him about this (and this is going back maybe 15 yrs) he said that the reason Qantas threw the towels away was that it cost more to have them cleaned to a sufficiently hygienic standard than to buy new ones.
Anyway, what would you prefer? Using a towel straight from the manufacturer, or one that someone once blew their nose on, wiped their kid's bum, cleaned up vomit etc and that you *hope* someone cleaned properly? I can see how a company would try to avoid this potential psychological aversion, even if it's totally irrational...
[edited to fix thinko]
[This message has been edited by aura (edited 06-29-2002).]