Bedbugs are highly temperature sensitive…. treatment involves raising the temperature of infested rooms.
And aero plane interiors can get very hot if they sit on the runway without the aircon.
A few hours of the plane being hot should wipe them all out.
That's a few hours where the plane couldn't run a flight. I'm guessing most of the 'normal maintenance' doesn't give enough time for everything to get hot enough.
Or, inversely, whatever 'schedule' they are trying to do, isn't quite enough which makes them more voracious [0]. You'd still need to get the temp above 130-150F for 5-10 minutes throughout [1]
All of that said, short of a -rabid- infestation you'd not expect to see one on you unless it's a long flight. I wonder if good countermeasures [2] just don't play well with airline ventilation?
[0] - General understanding is that the metabolism is very temperature based; high temperatures will cause fast die-off but much of that is added cold-blooded metabolism crossed with general tendency to need food/hydration.
[1] - Watch a 'heat treatment' video; the bugs often scatter panicked trying to find something tolerable.
[2] - AFAIK a desiccant (e.x. DE or Cimexa) is great against all sorts of 'pests' but applied wrong it can cause breathing issues short or long term.
To ensure everything is heated up effectively, without cold pockets for them to hide in, the heat is maintained for around 6 hours. It then can take several more to cool down to normal.
The article addresses this. Quoting:
The process typically takes two to five days and can cost airlines between $75,000 and $125,000 when accounting for lost revenue and treatment expenses. “They do have a bit of a protocol to work from,” Mr. Tuck said. “You’ll pull the airplane out of service and you’ll bug bomb it.” But without a spare aircraft available for long-distance routes, airlines face difficult decisions, particularly when passengers report infestations mid-journey.