lavatory

Tag Archives for lavatory.

Coach Passengers May Now Use The First Class Lavatory On United Airlines

by Gary Leff on October 29, 2020

Oct 29 2020

Airline lavatories are usually pretty simple. To be sure some passengers fail to use them, sometimes they’re inoperative and sometimes other passengers stink them up, but for the most part they work the same way. The only thing that confuses passengers is which one are they allowed to use?

This long-controversial question has been settled on United Airlines: to reduce bunching of passengers waiting in line for the loo, they may now use any lavatory on the plane. This is a coronavirus distancing measure.

I’ve Told You If You Fly To Avoid The Lavatories, But This Could Change Everything

by Gary Leff on May 21, 2020

May 21 2020

While U.S. airlines are going to great length to clean their aircraft, lavatories are shared spaces that don’t get cleaned during the flight. One airline though is going to begin sanitizing their lavatories every 45 minutes – something that’s crucial on a long haul flight.

Ryanair Will Make Passengers Ask Permission To Use The Toilet

by Gary Leff on May 12, 2020

May 12 2020

One of Ryanair’s new guidelines is no queuing for the lavatory. In the front of the plane post-9/11 security measures have usually included this guidance, though people frequently do line up in the back.

What’s new at Ryanair is that passengers will have to ask permission to use the toilet before getting up. Apparently it’s perfectly safe to sit beside someone in your seat, and dangerous to do so near the loo.

Woman Sues Aer Lingus For Yanking Her Out Of The Lavatory As Plane Took Off

by Gary Leff on April 6, 2020

Apr 06 2020

An Aer Lingus passenger is suing because she says flight attendants yanked out of the lavatory as the plane prepared to go into its takeoff roll.

The passenger says she was “dragged back to her seat while her pants were still below her knees, exposing her buttocks and genitalia to other passengers.”

New Lavatory Innovation May Be Coming To Two U.S. Airlines

by Gary Leff on February 16, 2020

Feb 16 2020

Stealing inches out of the lavatory helps airlines cram another row of seats into the plane. The new smaller lavatories some airlines have been using on narrowbody aircraft have been called “the most miserable experience in the world.”

But what if there was a lavatory that was easier to get into and that was even expandable?

Leaked Seat Maps Show United’s 787s Are Getting A Scott Kirby Retrofit

by Gary Leff on December 12, 2019

Dec 12 2019

United’s Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet – the latter which flies United’s longest flights to places like Sydney, Singapore, and Capetown – have still had the old Diamond 2-2-2 seats that most passengers with a choice avoid.

We finally have a look into United’s retrofit plans for these aircraft, and it isn’t pretty.

United Diverts to Rescue a Passenger Stuck in Lavatory

by Gary Leff on September 27, 2019

Sep 27 2019

You’re supposed to be at your seat for takeoff and landing of course, and there’s no seat belt in the lavatory. However on Wednesday’s United Airlines UA1554 non-stop from Washington National to San Francisco, the flight had to divert to Denver when a passenger got stuck in the lavatory.

The passenger had to sit on the throne for landing, and United mechanics were sent in for a rescue.

Why Airlines Should Charge Passengers to Use the Lavatory

by Gary Leff on December 1, 2018

Dec 01 2018

Whenever Ryanair is out of the news their CEO Michael O’Leary talks about making passengers stand (to cram more people onto planes) and making them pay to use the lavatory. In the U.S. pay toilets are illegal in many states but those prohibitions wouldn’t apply to airlines since they’d be pre-empted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act.

UK pay toilets are often cleaner than free ones. Would airlines charging for lavatories give us better lavatories? Would they give us bigger lavatories since they’d become a profit center?

A Grand Bargain With American Airlines For Bigger Lavatories: Credit Card Ads While You Go!

by Gary Leff on October 7, 2018

Oct 07 2018

Currently American Airlines is installing smaller lavatories across its domestic fleet, taking a few inches away from customers who have to go in order to squeeze in an extra row of seats.

The problem is that today American Airlines isn’t generating any revenue from its lavatories so it’s no surprise they’re trying to limit lavatory footprint.

Flight Attendant Tells Passengers to ‘Go in a Bottle’ After Toilets Malfunction on 6 Hour Hawaii Flight

by Gary Leff on September 7, 2018

Sep 07 2018

Last Friday, on August 31, American Airlines flight AA663 from Phoenix to Kona lost all of its functioning lavatories. A passenger reports that “only one restroom at the front of the plane was open, but that the toilet was overflowing.” This gives new meaning to the age-old question of whether coach passengers should use the first class lavatory.

A passenger flushed a diaper down the toilet and that caused the whole system to stop functioning midway through the six and a half hour flight.