The Daily Populous Thursday December 25th, 2025 day edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by DrexellGames

Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have been named as defendants in a lawsuit from a Virginia family who allege they were "bitten and injured by bed bugs that had infested the cabin" of a flight they took earlier this year.

In the complaint, filed Thursday, the Albuquerque family of Roanoke, Virginia, say the bites caused "raised and itchy welts, lesions, and rashes across their torsos and extremities." The legal filing includes close-up photos of those alleged injuries.

The bites "ruined their family vacation and has caused humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, discomfort, inconvenience, medical expenses, and loss of clothing and personal items," the lawsuit says.

One of the Albuquerque children with suspected bedbug bites visible on his neck and chest. Courtesy United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Roanoke Division

Delta and KLM did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment Wednesday.

In a statement to People magazine, Delta said: "As this pending litigation eventually states, the allegations at issue relate to flights not operated by Delta Air Lines. Delta will review the complaint and respond accordingly in due course."

KLM told the British publication The Independent that the company was "unable to comment on the specific allegations at this time" but would address the matter in "the appropriate legal channels."

The plaintiffs are identified as Romulo Albuquerque; his wife, Lisandra Garcia; and their two children, Benicio and Lorenzo Albuquerque.

The family of four took a Delta flight from Roanoke to Atlanta on March 21, followed by a KLM flight to Amsterdam and then to Belgrade, Serbia, where they planned to visit family and friends, according to the lawsuit. The flights were operated by KLM and purchased via Delta's SkyMiles program, the suit says.

"Approximately two hours into the flight (to Amsterdam), Mrs. Garcia began feeling like bugs were crawling on her and that she was being bitten," the lawsuit states. "It was at this point that she realized that bugs were crawling on her light-colored sweater."

The lawsuit claims the husband and wife "immediately alerted the flight attendants," who allegedly "urged them to keep their voices down to avoid a 'panic' on the airplane."

A jacket and a napkin covered in the suspected bedbugs from the KLM flight. Courtesy United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Roanoke Division

Albuquerque and Garcia took photos and recorded videos of the bugs crawling on her sweater and moving around "in the creases" of their seats, according to their attorneys. The images in the suit include a photo of a KLM drink napkin covered in what appears to be dead bugs.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages against both airlines in the amount of at least $200,000.

705nce on December 25th, 2025 at 04:52 UTC »

I lived in a building with bed bugs. Those photos tell me they had the issue before the flight.

metalflygon08 on December 25th, 2025 at 04:26 UTC »

Those planes are lost causes, just use them to test crash ballistics.

You will never get all those bugs out of there...

DrexellGames on December 25th, 2025 at 04:16 UTC »

For those TLDR or want to skim it through:

A Virginia family is suing Delta and KLM airlines for $200,000 after alledgingly being bitten by bed bugs during their flight. The lawsuit claims the family discovered the bed bugs in mid-flight and suffered bites that ruined their vacation.