Plane passenger sparks outrage as she slams airline for taking back blanket that was provided during flight

Blankets are often provided on long-haul flights for the comfort of the passenger, but one bold woman has come under fire after she complained that she couldn’t take one home with her.

The irate passenger, who was flying on West African airline Air Peace Limited, shared a video about it that has since gone viral on social media, sparking a heated debate over what a customer is entitled to keep after a flight.

In the clip, the user, who posts under the username lanio60, showed the flight attendant collecting the blankets from the passengers and putting them in a plastic bag, with one passenger notably hesitating before handing theirs back.

A text overlay on the video reads: ‘Did you just say “collecting blankets?” You will have to beat me to take that blanket,’ with a row of crying emojis.

Social media users immediately jumped to the comment section to share their thoughts, with many arguing that the blankets are the property of the airline.

‘That’s like saying you can take the blankets, towels and pillows from your hotel room. If they are included, then OK, but you have to determine that,’ one user wrote.

‘Lady, you are a thief,’ declared another. ‘You paid to use the aircraft and everything in it. Oh, maybe you should carry the air raft as well since it’s included in your fare.’

‘Well. It’s not part of the money you paid. The headphones too,’ pointed out someone else.

‘Emirates, Qatar, Ethiopian airways, Kenyan airways, South African Airways: all these airlines collect blankets. I’m surprised there are even airlines that let you keep,’ chimed in someone else.

‘Some collect it back while some don’t,’ observed another. ‘Some allow you to keep it if u don’t release it. Generally, customers should be allowed to keep them as souvenirs. Those stuffs are made from cheap materials.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Air Peace Limited for comment.

Sherry Martin Peters, who has worked as a flight attendant for several major airlines, told the Daily Mail that while airlines provide blankets for comfort, especially on international flights, she believes they’re expected to be left on the airplane and not taken home.

‘They are then washed and reused,’ she explained. ‘That said, if a customer takes a blanket, I’m not one to pipe up and say, “You can’t take it.”‘

‘And if they ask me directly if they can take it, I will say “I didn’t see anything.” Really, if someone becomes that emotionally attached to a blanket, let them take it,’ she shared.

The cleanliness of the blankets and pillows provided on a flight is often spoken about online, with many theorizing that they are not washed as frequently as people may hope.

Earlier in the year, the CEO of travel website Busbud, LP, Maurice, warned that they might not actually be clean at all.

Maurice, who has worked with industrial laundry managers, said on a typical long-haul flight, the linen provided will be washed – but not if they have a tight turnaround.

‘On a typical long-haul turn, the linen carts roll straight off the aircraft and go to a contractor that washes at 140°F with peroxide, dries on high heat and shrink‑wraps each blanket or pillowcase,’ he told the Daily Mail in August.

‘When you see a tight plastic envelope on your seat, it usually means that the item came off a wash line earlier that day.’

But Maurice explained it may be different when a flight is late and there isn’t time to properly change the blankets.

He said: ‘However, if the preceding flight landed late and the aircraft is turning in 25 minutes, crews will keep any blanket that looks unused.

‘They fold it, place it back on the seat, and hope the next traveler does not notice.’

The expert revealed that a line manager once admitted to him that in ‘one busy hub’ only a fifth of blankets on economy flights are washed, while the others are folded ‘unless visibly stained’.