A Delta Air Lines passenger that took a regional jet flight on board an aircraft that appears to have been flying around without any working lavatories shared their experience with me.
Flying from Midland, Michigan to Detroit on a two-cabin CR-9 regional jet they expected a plane with two lavatories. Normally there’s one for first class, and one for coach. This plane had two lavs, but neither of them worked. The toilets wouldn’t flush.
The plane had flown that way to Midland from Detroit, and this was a known issue – passengers were told that if they used the bathroom they would have “to pour water from a bottle in the toilet to “flush” our business.” After the plane made it back to Detroit, it then continued to Montreal.
There’s certainly plenty of maintenance available in Detroit. Reportedly the captain of the flight had requested a change of aircraft and was refused. They didn’t want to take a delay.
This flight was operated for Delta by SkyWest, but it’s Delta’s brand, the passenger sharing the photo of the lavatory was on a paid Delta first class ticket. That is supposed to come with efforts for on-time departures, but do so with working equipment.
I’ve been sharing a lot more lately the controversial view that I hold: that an airline ticket is not just ‘transportation between two points’ but a bundle of services that include a seat that works as-designed and working lavatory. When the business you paid fails to deliver on the basic product, they haven’t earned the fare.
American Airlines has flown New York to Chicago without a lavatory before but passengers knew in advance they’d have to hold it for the duration of the trip. (On a flight to Hawaii, American told passengers to go in a bottle when the lavatories became inoperable.) United reportedly closed down a lavatory restricting it to pilots only. But Delta claims to offer a more premium experience!
Delta bathrooms on their planes are nasty, IMO. Paint peeling/chipping, rust everywhere. Although I’ll admit their a320/321 bathrooms are “large” (compared to AA’s tiny 737 ones), but they still look like they’re 15-20+ years old and haven’t been refurbed. Had two recently where the toilet paper dispenser was broken (so the TP roll was sitting on the little tiny ledge next to the sink).
Maybe Delta was experimenting with the new unbundled fare classes. You have to pay extra for a flushing lavatory. In reality, this is bad for Delta because it allows SkyWest to fly planes using the Delta brand even though Delta has little to no control over SkyWest’s operations. So, customers with bad experiences (like this one) blame Delta. They have almost no recourse with SkyWest.
Gary, your position is not controversial at all. Most paying customers expect to receive the services they pay for (and in many cases pay extra for). Only airline lobbyists, lawyers for the airlines, corporate shills, and idiot bootlickers tote the party line that all you deserve is a seat, any seat, and that keeping schedules doesn’t matter either. We deserve better. I wish we would legislate better. We won’t though. We are a joke of a society. Shame on us.
This was what a 40 minute flight? Would you rather miss your connection? And since this was a small outstation likely mechanics might be required to fly in from DTW to address the issue. If people were not so unhealthy they’d be able to hold the urge for 45 minutes. I’m a 65 year old man and I certainly can.
Been on two flights with no operating toilet. Both smaller aircrafts. One hour flight and two hour flight. The one hour flight on AC was told at 15 minutes prior to boarding. No coffee too because all tied in together. The two hour flight on DL had a flight attendant ask us to ring the bell if we wanted to have it fixed or fly to Austin without toilet. Mostly men on that flight and last flight of the day, we all looked at each other. No one dare to push. I do wonder to this day if someone would have pushed that button or even just said Just kidding! We made it ok. FA had a very fast service and most ran off to use the AUS airport bathroom.
At the end of the day, flushing toilet is not necessary. As long there is a outhouse to do your business their job is get you point A and B on time. Airlines get dinged on time but not operating toilets.
@George N Romey – Agree completely on the flight from Midland to Detroit. HOWEVER, it should have been taken out of service in Detroit as that is a DL hub (and I know this was Sky West but this flying under DL) and I’m sure both mechanics and likely replacement aircraft would be more readily available. Also, it is one thing IMHO to find this out on the flight to Detroit and continue as opposed to making a decision to fly that plane to Montreal (where there is no maintenance so it likely flew to at least one other place with the same problem). To me that is negligence and, as much as I typically disagree with too much regulation, I feel a fine from the FAA (and also the Canadian government in this case) is warranted.
If there is gravity drain, urine can be washed down. If there is brownpoop, a plastic bag is a possibility but many grocery stores do not have those because of state or local bans. I have defecated-in a bag before while camping. Not so gross. Only not feasible if one has diarrhea-or similar.
Just use the premium SkyWest Delta Connection sink…
Is this the “peemium” service I hear so much about?
Making excuses for Delta – or any other airline – that continues to fly an aircraft with known sanitation issues is asinine and should resort in the airline(s) being fined. I don’t care if the flights are/were of short duration and that passengers are expected to “hold their water” – this is unacceptable. Either fix the issue – or – take the aircraft out of service until the issue is fixed.
I was on a 3 hour long airline flight recently on a plane that didn’t have a bathroom period. Like not even installed. So… They make announcements ahead of time that plane has no bathroom, so use it now or forever cross your legs…
Sick and sad. So sad. I recall when flying was cool and dignified. Poor planes are abused.
It seems like the only difference between flying now, and taking a Greyhound Bus in the 80’s, is the altitude.
The rule among pilots is “never pass up a perfectly good bathroom”. Airlines can defer repair on some items to maintain a schedule. Do u want to arrive on time or use a filthy lavatory. My advice, use the can in the terminal!
Airlines and most corporations could give a s**t about customers. If it were me on a flight with no bathroom and I had to pee or poop, I’d “do it” right in the aisle.
DL isn’t the only culprit. AA and UA are just as bad. The passenger experience is now secondary to selling credit card miles, union issues, bean counters running the show, etc.
If you think the airlines have gone down the toilet,…take a look at the traveling public! … people nowadays have no class! Everything from behavior, language, attire, and attitude are appallingly.
To Mr. Floyd Mills,
Sadly, you wouldn’t be the first to utilize the aisle for such functions. And unfortunately, I’m certain I’ll see it again before my career ends. .
Just another Shitty flight.
“Use a water bottle” sounds very different than what actually is being said.
That being said, a lot of people would choose the flight with the broken toilet rather than wait for another bird.
When the lavatories are out of order on your next Delta Air Lines flight, and there is no water available to flush fecal waste, consider requesting at least two cans of Coca-Cola as a makeshift solution from your friendly flight attendant. As a premium airline, passengers sitting in Delta Comfort+ and First Class are entitled to complimentary beer and wine service, which can also help mask unpleasant odors and enhance the atmosphere in the lavatory. Andrea Robinson is the Master Sommelier who selects the wines served on Delta Air Lines flights. I think she would recommend the selection of a German Grosses Gewächs Riesling because of the elegant floral aromas released when decanted onto a warm toilet bowl turd. However, if passengers want the broken lavatories to smell like Octoberfest in Germany, Miller Lite® is a great low-cost option.
Now I know where AA sources it’s chef selected wines.
128 miles flight… Would rather make my connection.
But this piece of junk should have been swapped out seamlessly. Its not rocket science.
And if you exceed the bottle please just let the overflow go wherever. Thank you!
I worked for SkyWest for more then two decades as a flight attendant. This happens every year when the weather is super cold. The blue juice that skywest uses in the crj fleet will freeze. The equipment the ground staff uses will not pump into the aircraft. When this happens the flight might cancel or use the water bottle. It’s very stressful for everyone. The flight attendants are so embarrassed for one. Skywest will try and put those flights on really short flights. Delta knows what’s going on, because they have you trained to do the survey. This could happen at American, United and again Delta. All three use the crj from Skywest.
It seems like some people are missing an important point. The plane first flew to MBS from DTW with two broken toilets. It then flew back to DTW from MBS before continuing on to YUL. It should have never flown to MBS in the first place. And once back in DTW, it should have been taken out of service. DTW to YUL is like 2 hours. That’s an incredibly long time for no toilets. Pissing is one thing. Pooping is something else. And what are you supposed to do with the toilet paper?
Gary loves his pee and poop inspired stories. He seems fascinated by it all.
Skywest list Detroit as a maintenance hub at their website. So, no excuses.
And, did they try jiggling the handle?
“Maintenance bases
Boise, Chicago O’Hare, Colorado Springs, Detroit, Fresno, Milwaukee, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Salt Lake City, South Bend and Tucson”
That’s a premium experience right there. It doesn’t bother me because I like to wear adult diapers.