The story of a Virginia family suing KLM Royal Dutch Airlines over a bed bug infestation on their flight to Europe from the United States has brought to light at least one more story from only 2 months ago, when another passenger experienced a very similar bed bug infestation.
In both cases, the flight attendants insisted that the travelers remain in their seats despite the clearly visible bugs on the seats and the passengers’ belongings. The airline has not taken any action to rectify the situation in the aftermath. The inaction and woeful response by KLM have led the Albuquerque family of Virginia to sue the Netherlands-based airline for $200,000.
KLM’s Unwelcome Stowaways
The Albuquerque family took a 
Delta Air Lines connecting flight to Atlanta (ATL), where they boarded a KLM jet bound for Amsterdam (AMS) on March 21, 2025, according to NBC News. And two hours into the flight, the family of four all began to notice a steadily worsening itchiness. The mother, Lisandra Garcia, felt bugs crawling on her and biting her body. She then saw the bugs on her clothes.
The family supplied photos of bite marks to the court in Roanoke, Virginia, as well as a picture of a KLM napkin with the dead insects clearly smeared on it. In the lawsuit filing, the family said that they immediately alerted the flight attendants, but the response was an insistence that they keep their voices down to avoid a panic.
Founder of Revoke.cash, a cryptocurrency security platform, Rosco Kalis recounted a similar experience he had while flying aboard KLM in October of this year. In his story posted on X, he recounted discovering a huge swarm nested in the seats. Here is one excerpt from his account:
“I flew to Korea last October, and a few hours into the flight, we discovered a bed bug walking on my wife’s sweater. After closer inspection we found dozens of eggs and multiple (young and adult) bed bugs in the head rests of our seats.”
Not So Royal Flying Experience
The video and photo evidence provided by the Albuquerque family, as well as Rosco Kalis, shows what looks to be an advanced infestation in both cases. That would imply negligent cleaning and sanitation services on KLM’s part for weeks or months before the insect nest could mature to such a horrendous extent. Kalis says He immediately made a complaint with the airline upon landing in Korea, but KLM has not even replied, let alone offered any kind of accountability or compensation for the nightmare flight experience.
Bed bugs primarily enter airplanes by hitchhiking on passengers and their belongings. Once onboard, bed bugs find harborage in the fabric of seats, carpeting, and the dark crevices of seatback pockets or in-flight entertainment systems. Their ability to survive for months without a blood meal allows them to remain on an aircraft through multiple flight rotations.
Standard daily cleaning is often too quick to address these pests, so more intensive treatments are used when a sighting is reported or during scheduled deep-maintenance periods. Some airlines apply aircraft-approved pesticides to non-contact surfaces like carpets and overhead bins to prevent long-term infestations.
Eww. Why Are Bed Bugs So Hard For Airlines To Get Rid Of?
Airlines regularly clean planes, but bed bugs are persistent little critters.
How Airlines Prevent Bed Bugs
Specialized electric heaters raise the cabin temperature to a level lethal for bed bugs. This method is FAA compliant and reaches deep into cabin linings and seat cushions. For smaller-scale issues or specific seat treatments, cleaning crews use low-moisture “vapor steamers.” These high-temperature machines kill bugs in fabric seams without leaving excessive moisture that could harm wiring.
Specialized antimicrobial and insecticidal fogging solutions may be used to reach tight crevices in the cabin. Some cases also require “top-of-descent” spraying, where flight attendants use aerosol insecticides in the cabin before landing to prevent the spread of various insects. If a passenger reports a bed bug during a flight, standard protocol is to move the passenger to a new seat and take the aircraft for a professional “deep clean” or maintenance “repair” immediately after landing.
