I’m sick and tired… actually, I am mainly tired. Too bad I can’t blame that on dirty airplanes. However, if I come down with pneumonia soon, I know where to point my finger.
Forget about blaming filthy bathrooms on commercial aircrafts for illnesses, according to The Wall Street Journal, germs like Aspergillus niger, which cause pneumonia and a host of other infections, can be found just as easily on the pillow and blanket you use to catch some shut-eye on the red-eye.
The paper’s investigation found that unless a pillow or blanket is visibly soiled it often gets reissued. The Wall Street Journal reports that most airlines only clean their blankets every five to 30 days. So basically, if you snuggle up with an airline-issued pillow and blanket you may be rubbing up against some other person’s nasty germs.
Do you drool while you sleep? No? Well, the guy who used the airline’s pillow before you might drool like a rabid dog.
The Wall Street Journal’s piece cited a 2000 incident in which the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees accused Royal Airline Laundry (the company that supplies pillows and blankets to clients like American, United, and US Airways) of repackaging pillows and blankets without cleaning them properly. Among the most upsetting discoveries included finding blankets with traces of Pseudomonas paucimobilis and pillowcases with traces of Aspergillus niger, which can lead to pneumonia and gastrointestinal bleeding.
These days most major airlines, including Southwest, don’t even offer passengers blankets or pillows. Meanwhile, other carriers, such as JetBlue, US Airways, and American, charge for pillows and blankets that have never been used. At least I hope they have never been used. I bought a pillow and blanket from American for $8 a few months ago on a flight from Hawaii to Chicago. The blanket was no bigger than a medium-sized garbage bag (and almost as thin) and the pillow had to be blown up before it could be used. At the time I didn’t think that the inflatable pillow and tiny blanket were worth eight bucks, but they were hermetically sealed in a plastic tote, so I know they weren’t used goods, and I didn’t get sick from them. You can’t put a price tag on that.
Related Articles:
Keeping Germs Away At 35,000-Feet
The Ugly Truth About Airplane Water
Dirty Airports Forced To “Clean Up”