This Is What Happens to Your Airplane Blanket After You Leave the Plane
We investigated whether or not airlines reuse those paper-thin blankets, or give them a toss.
Oh, the airplane blanket—a sad, paper-thin rectangle of acrylic fibers, somehow always blue. At the start of your voyage, it sits there, unappealing, taking up precious space on your seat. But once you’re in the air, and the cabin temperature drops, you find yourself clinging onto that raggedy piece of cloth for dear life. We hold these airplane comforts so close to our bodies, only to toss them to the ground once the seatbelt sign goes off. But where do these precious amenities go once the plane lands? Were they ever really ours to begin with? We spoke to airline experts to find out just what happens to airplane blankets at the end of a flight.
Do airplane blankets get reused?
Some airplane amenities, like plastic earbud headphones or eye masks, are almost always single-use, but blankets are usually not. While you’ll often find them sealed in plastic bags, this doesn’t mean they came straight from the Airplane Blanket Store; they will have likely been washed after use on a previous flight. Some airlines send blankets to an industrial facility to get washed, while others wash the blankets at their home base airports. (So you don’t have to worry about someone else’s Biscoff crumbs falling out of the bag.) JetBlue is one of such airlines. “All of JetBlue’s blankets are washed and dried in a high-powered laundry machine and are then repackaged for sustainable reuse on future flights,” a JetBlue spokesperson says.
The same goes for United Airlines, as well as Delta. “Delta launders all of our blankets, including international flights,” says a spokesperson from the airline. “For any international stations that don’t have laundry services, we send extras in the cargo bins from the US to be used on the return leg.” While there’s some speculation on Reddit that blankets are merely refolded in plastic bags without getting laundered, the consensus among friends of the airline industry is that it’s mostly untrue.
What about those fancy first class blankets?
If you’re lucky enough to fly first class, it’s likely you’ll be presented with ultra-premium, filled bedding, rather than that thin, “don’t get too comfortable here” throw those in economy class know too well. These also get washed, but presumably less so, since there’s a lower turnaround number. Many airline companies, like American and Delta, are investing in first class blankets made from recycled materials. But just because you’re in first class doesn’t mean you’re immune to some seriously gross snafus. In 2018, comedian Nicole Byer found a piece of poop nestled within her blanket package.
Can you take the blankets with you?
Suppose you became attached to your fabric square during a particularly rough red eye and want to take it home. Or, you sat in first class and could not bear to part ways with that luxurious comforter. Sadly, most airlines forbid taking these amenities home (though it’s not likely they’ll come after you if you do).
“For long-haul service in which blankets are provided free of charge, we ask that customers leave their blankets for reuse on future flights,” says a spokesperson at JetBlue. “For shorter flights where blankets are available for purchase through our Buy on Board offering, customers are welcome to take their blankets with them.” Perhaps the best way to avoid any chance of blanket germs—and be a bit more sustainable—is to channel Linus from Peanuts and bring your own.