Okay, this is getting seriously ridiculous.
Somebody wrote what was considered to be a “threatening message” – a bomb threat of some kind – on a lavatory mirror aboard a Continental flight from Houston to Washington Dulles (actually, this flight was operated by ExpressJet).
There was no bomb, fortunately – but why would anyone do this? Did they want to make a side trip to Greensboro, North Carolina where the flight was diverted to?
A plane load of passengers was totally inconvenienced – just like the people on the Delta flight from Paris Tuesday, after a decorated combat vet allegedly made a bomb threat, causing his flight to divert to Maine.
Regarding that “lavatory mirror threat” – what are the rest of us supposed to do – become bathroom monitors? Take a good hard look at whoever is in the lavatory line ahead of us, so we can ID them later if need be?
I hope not. But it’s getting crazy out there…
Tomorrow – Thursday, April 29 – a new Dept. of Transportation rule called, “Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections” goes into effect.
You know it better as the “3-hour rule” – and it means no more passengers getting trapped-on-the-tarmac in planes going nowhere, after a wait of three hours.
It also means, while you are on that plane, waiting for those three hours, medical attention will be available to anyone who needs it, and after two hours, food and water will be available as well.
Plus, the lavatories will have to be in working order (don’t think this hasn’t happened before).
The airlines don’t like this rule – and some passengers say, three hours is too long. I take a look at this angry debate (and more) in my latest column for ABCNews.com.
Here’s an irony: the new three hour rule could wind up delaying your plane a lot longer than three hours – or at least, that’s what some experts are saying. Is that argument valid? I’d love to hear what you think.
Incredible: According to the Daily Mail, Europe’s big discount airline, Ryanair – as threatened earlier – will begin putting coin-operated pay-toilets (or pay-lavatories) on its aircraft.
The airline is said to be “working with Boeing to redesign the cabin and develop coin-operated toilets on 168 of its planes.” No date has been set.
To add insult to injury, Ryanair wants to reduce the number of its onboard lavatories – so there would just be one available to as many as 189 passengers (which means Ryanair could shoe-horn in another six seats or so).
What will it cost? One euro or one British pound, which works out to about $1.33 or $1.52 respectively.
One comment on the Daily Mail website: “The only answer if for everybody to refuse to buy any drinks!” Actually, that might hit Ryanair where it hurts, because according to the airline’s menu, they charge about $3.50 for water and about $2.70 for tea.
Other comments I’ve seen:
- “What if somebody onboard has a nasty, upset stomach?!!!”
- “I’ll be asking the stewardesses for an empty cup…”
It’s bad enough that Ryanair just raised bag fees – but this? I don’t even think Spirit would stoop this low…
Japan’s All Nippon Airways, sometimes known as ANA, says it will introduce a women-only lavatory on international flights next month.
An ANA spokesman said they did a survey, and this is what customers want: “Women said that they feel uncomfortable taking their time in the lavatory knowing that a male is waiting just behind them in line.” I haven’t noticed this in my home.
Is “time” the real reason? The spokesman denied it had anything to do with complaints that men are slobs (“we do not have that data”).
Okay, time to let my female editor chime in: “I like this idea, Rick, but seriously – a women-only bathroom line? It’ll take forever…”
Well, that’s one woman’s opinion. What’s yours?
When I first saw this in the Daily Mail, I had to check the date – so certain was I that this was an April Fools’ prank. But it wasn’t.
It seems All Nippon Airways (ANA) is conducting a month long experiment, now underway, to see if getting people to empty their bladders before boarding – thereby ditching some weight – will mean a lighter aircraft, less fuel usage, and a reduction in carbon emissions.
My head is spinning.
I will spare you the details of how much a human bladder can hold, (but my friends at ABCNews.com are much more in depth so read their informative take on this, which includes a quote from yours truly). However, I do think the folks running the Japanese carrier are a little optimistic when they say they hope to reduce carbon emissions by five tons over 30 days.
I just have one question: How come Ryanair didn’t come up with this first?
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Holy cow.
Ryanair, the Ireland-based budget airline, will add credit card readers to the doors of its lavatories – and, within 2 years, start charging passengers about $1.50 to use the bathroom.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary (whose name in print is usually prefaced in print with the word “outspoken”) has made a lot of outrageous statements over the years. But this latest hoo-hah is being reported in the New York Times – and, for what it’s worth, the Times reminds us that last February, when O’Leary first brought up the idea of pay-toilets, his PR person didn’t go crazy, he just told reporters that his boss “makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along.” Apparently, not this time!
O’Leary added, he wants to reconfigure his airline’s 737-800 jets by removing two of its three lavatories, to make room for more seats. As O’Leary points out – and I see his point – the average Ryanair flight time is about an hour, so that shouldn’t be too much of a hardship.
Will other airlines charge a bathroom fee? I doubt it, but – what do you think, readers? And, could Mr. O’Leary still be pulling our leg?
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A couple of weeks ago, I put up a post asking “how many lavatories are required on commercials jets?”
I did a lot of research but couldn’t find a definitive answer anywhere. I also contacted the FAA. I said I’d update you.
So today, I finally heard back — only to be told to contact the FAA’s “Aircraft Certification Service, Delegation and Airworthiness Programs” in Oklahoma City.
Okay, we did so. And lo and behold, a nice young man who took our call, had the answer. Click “more” and you’ll have the answer, too!
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EXCLUSIVE: FAA Reveals Secrets of Airline Lavatories
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I was perusing an article in South Florida’s Sun-Sentinel the other day, about how airlines are coping with the soaring cost of fuel.
Almost as an aside, the paper mentioned that Spirit Airlines removed one of the 3-lavatories from its Airbus A319 jets, as a cost cutting measure! (Less weight = less fuel usage).
That got me to thinking: Spirit sure hasn’t been lacking for weird publicity this past year, and…exactly how many restrooms are planes supposed to have? Keep reading to see some of the bizarre stuff I came up with.
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Airline Lavatories: Do We Have Enough (And, How Many is “Enough”)?
