Airline considers fee for lavatory use, coin operated door release

[Liberal_in_LA]

Airline considers fee for lavatory useB

By A. Pawlowski, CNN

April 7, 2010 3:21 p.m. EDT
Ryanair, a budget airline based in Ireland, is known for its rock-bottom fares and multitude of fees.

Ryanair may require travelers to pay for lavatory use on short flights

Airline is working with Boeing to develop coin-operated door release
Budget airline, based in Ireland, is also raising checked bag fees for summer
Ryanair is known for its fees and is up-front about them on its Web site
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Ryanair, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, and bills itself as "Europe's first and largest low fares airline," is mulling a plan that would require travelers to pay either 1 euro or 1 British pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less.

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The carrier said it is working with Boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, passengers would need to deposit the change before being able to use the facilities.

The idea is to encourage people to use restrooms in airport terminals before boarding, Ryanair said. If the airline were to proceed, the changes would be at least 12 to 18 months away.

As part of the plan, the airline is also considering removing two of the three lavatories on some of its planes so it could squeeze in up to six extra seats. The move would help reduce fares by at least 5 percent, Ryanair said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/07/ryanair.lavatory.fee/index.html?hpt=T2

[RagAss]

1. I'll shit in my puke bag.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. just shit in the seat...

if you're gonna make a point...make it BIG!

sP

[uppityperson]

2. Planes would be lighter but it still sounds shitty. Hmm, may be wrong about lighter

If they put in 6 extra seats and people, would this make up for everyone having an empty bladder when they board?

[tabasco]

3. They have very cheap flights.

If this helps keep fares low, I'm fine with it.

[nickinSTL]

4. "working with Boeing to develop"?

uh...I can't imagine why they'd need to

they have those sorts of things all over Europe (or at least they did when I was there) - can't be THAT much different for an airplane bathroom, can it?

[Angleae]

14. It needs to be approved by the appropriated regulatory agency.

Like the FAA or CAA. Otherwise it doesn't go on the plane.

[htuttle]

5. Are they going to have a change machine on the plane?

[DemoTex]

6. I am so fucking glad I'm retired from that shit!

I have flown on the airlines only once (12/2004) since I retired as a captain on 9/10/2001. I drive EVERYWHERE. As a former captain and ALPA airline accident investigator I can tell you that I absolutely HATE the state of the US airline industry today.

[BadgerKid]

7. Expecting mothers must be thrilled with this

-- not.

[DemoTex]

12. Not to mention codgers (like me) on diuretics ..

But it won't work, and I'll tell you why: shit-stained and pissed-stained seats. It has always been a problem. It was almost a joke at the southern termini (JAX, TPA, MCO, MIA) on flights from stations like LGA, BOS, PHL, DCA, etc., when we would radio ahead to the station, "New seat cushions in 12B, 18E, and 22A .. bio-hazard clean-up in 19A,B,&C .. and EMTs at the gate for the possible DOA in 19B."

Let 'em try. They'll be sorry!

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. ewwww

[asjr]

8. I wonder if the toilets play Danny Boy when

money is put in the slot.

[joycean]

9. I can see the headline now...

MAN URINATES IN SODA BOTTLE, ESCORTED OFF OF AIRPLANE WHILE FELLOW PASSENGERS CHEER.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Oh, a few people pissing and shitting in the seats will bring the free toilets right back.

Concerted effort now, people.

[Canuckistanian]

11. I hope they don't have carpet outside the bathroom door

Fiddling with coins can waste valuable seconds sometimes.

[rfranklin]

13. Adult diapers...no need to climb over the passenger next to you...

it's a true feeling of freedom!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. Don't forget unpredictable, messy, bloody menstruation.

They'll love that too, I'm sure.

[iris27]

16. And people wonder why I drove from St. Louis to Orlando last year.

Air travel gets more personally intrustive, more restrictive, more uncomfortable, and more expensive every year.

[Generic Brad]

17. If they do this they will no longer be known as the low fare airline

Instead, they will be known as the airline with a fuselage that smells like urine.

[kestrel91316]

18. No thanks. I'll just pee into my seat cushion.

[WVRICK13]

19. I Hate To Say It

but, if I had to go and had no change I would just go in front of the door. Some things just will not wait. Back in the late 70s I was at a mall that had pay stalls and I really really had to go, but I had no change. A security guard was at the sinks and I told him he could either unlock the stall or detain me after I went in front of the door. He laughed, unlocked the door and left. I wrote a letter to the mall management telling them of the situation and explained the stores had a no change without purchase policy and informed them that at a point of need I did not have time to buy something to get change and then go to the toilet. They sent an apology and removed the locks within a week. If I were a regular in Ryanair I would write to corporate and suggest they raise the price of every ticket 25 cents and forget this potential for horrible messes.

[Vinca]

21. They'll change their mind after they reupholster a few seats.