HMPS

So then the aircraft OP met the bed bugs has been sent for heat treatment...can this be verified ? Would be reassuring for future pax.

LoveHateRelationship

Seems like BA is treating this like a Ford Pinto incident. They figure the risks of bed bugs outweighs the cost of treatment so let the complaints roll in! Throw in a free CW ticket and the complainant will shut up. Beats actually taking the plane out of service and heat treating it.

Concerto

I thought that the smell in the other thread, apparently about feet, was the bedbugs being fried, or grilled as they are electrocuted!

corporate-wage-slave

I don't know which aircraft was used on the JFK-LHR service, The OP didn't put the flight number or Registration, so it's going to be difficult for me to find out. But a BA staff member has told me that they have done a lot of extra heat treatments lately, and including the ones that got into the media in recent weeks. Judging from some of the equipment visible from 27L that seems plausible to me. On paper, at least, if the OP had reported it, and then the SCCM had fed that through on arrival at LHR then there would have been a check during the turnaround and if necessary the aircraft wheeled off for treatment. If we had the Reg and the same aircraft then took off 5 hours later then clearly no action was taken but as ever we're into anecdote and guesswork here. But there have been a few reports of unexpected 3, 4 hour delays to departure of late.

Prospero

It was mentioned in another thread last week that BA were short of 52J 747s, due in part to one bird being exfoliated.

nycflyer17

Any updates on the bed bug situation on BA planes (particularly those used for TATL routes)?

Concerto

Haven't heard anything, so if there's no smoke there can't be any fire. But I have to say, this is something I really worry about, even on trains (I am on trains every day). In hotels, I have a bedbug checking procedure which uses up 3-5 minutes of time before I settle into the room (variants can easily be found on YouTube).

PETER01

I heard through the grapevine that until Brexit is fully settled they're holding off from their TATL flights by which time they'll have to apply for a new ESTA....so in the meantime they're all having a little siesta.





More seriously though, not heard many recent reports on BA or other airlines.

onobond

I've had a serious virus problem on my previous laptop, but now you're telling us there are bed bugs on Youtube?

nycflyer17

Yea, they are a big concern in NYC, on the subway/commuter rail, as well as benches etc. I'm the same way at hotels, have it down to a science. Hotel rooms, at least, are contained to a large degree. There's something uniquely crazy about planes and bed bugs, since it's essentially one big hotel room with hundreds of people. Presumably bugs in one part of the plane don't go out of their way to venture to the other end when they have perfectly good hosts in the next seat over, and the next seat after that. Still, they very well could, if they felt like it! I'm surprised planes don't have this issue more often (maybe they do) and once they do, it seems nearly impossible to be sure you've killed them all? I guess the best solution would be to leave the plane on the tarmac in phoenix/dubai during summer for a full day, turned off.

WorldLux

Not bed bugs but very filthy cabins on recent flights.

newfrequent

My partner must have been bitten 50+ times on a flight back from Mumbai in First last week. It took BA a week to respond to the onboard complaint and they offered him 20k Avios, he wasn't best pleased with this offer got a bit DYKWIA and is awaiting a call back.

Supposedly the agent mentioned that he'd been flying with BA a lot less this year, he quipped back "Yes, I won't be flying with you again unless you get this sorted", he has got a flight this week with BA that is only served by Ryanair otherwise so I'm excited to see if he rebooks that

nycflyer17

Last week? My goodness that sounds awful!

Did your partner manage to not bring them home with them somehow? In any case it's a health hazard if the infestation is bad enough to yield 50 bites. Is the plane still in the air?

BA has to provide a lot more, including the cost of replacing or treating luggage, clothes etc. And then I'd expect a boatload of points.

If your partner got bit that bad they must be everywhere in first and I imagine others are getting bit, to say nothing of the other classes. BA has to take the plane offline. What tail number was it? Did you contact media?

Wow.

corporate-wage-slave

OK, I'll bite. Yesterday BA shifted the equivalent of the population of Exeter from one place to another. Today they will do the same, and ditto tomorrow. I don't know how many bed bugs there are in Exeter but my suspicion is that it will be considerably more than there are on BA's aircraft. I have never seen a bed bug on a BA aircraft - or indeed any other airline - that I have travelled on, and that will be rather more than most people have travelled. It's not worth worrying about, you are more likely to be struck by lightning.

nycflyer17

You're right to consider this rationally, by the numbers. But the report made just above - along with BA's response - is nevertheless concerning, especially since there is a well documented prior history of bed bugs on BA flights, your experiences withstanding.