Pay-per loo

[Tony G]

Story that was on yesterdays news. I thought we are supposed to be moving forward in society, is it greed or desperation,. There is a quote in the story saying they could fit an extra 6 seats if they remove a toilet and the profit from those 6 extra seats is more than what the profit of the whole aircraft operation makes per flight. Very tight operation. I like low budget carriers because it allows me to travel more than I would normally, but I think they are taking it to far. They said on the news it wont be uncommon to have 1 toilet per 200 passengers. Sounds inhuman but I would not be surprised if desperate people find an alternate place to pee.

Pay-per-loo: Ryanair to charge for toilet trips
By Timothy McDonald

Updated Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:02pm AEST


Ryanair has confirmed it plans to charge customers to use the toilet. (Reuters: Stephen Hird)

Related Story: Airline may make customers pay to pee Low cost airlines are notorious for their add-ons; food and checked-in baggage cost extra on many Australian flights.

Now no-frills airlines overseas are going even further. Ireland's Ryanair has confirmed it plans to charge customers to use the toilets and an American low-cost carrier wants to charge people to use overhead lockers if their bags do not fit under the seats in front of them.

It may seem outrageous to some but analysts say there is a good reason airlines might start to charge for using overhead lockers or toilets.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation chairman Peter Harbison says wafer thin margins are behind the moves.

"First of all they can get an extra half-a-dozen seats in, which is more than the profit usually for a whole aircraft operation," he said.

"It saves them a lot of money in servicing two additional toilets. All those sorts of issues, they all add up quite considerably."

Mr Harbison says it is quite possible that Australian carriers will also consider following suit at some point in the future.

"I've got no doubt that every airline is looking at how much space the toilets take up, and not just low cost carriers but all carriers," he said.

"And bear in mind too that we're not talking about six, seven, eight-hour flights here. We're talking about 45 minutes to an hour, so it's not something that's likely to strain the ability of most people for that length of time."

Ellis Taylor, a reporter for Australian Aviation Magazine and former Jetstar employee, says Ryanair's move is a bold one and Australian airlines are likely to be cautious about doing the same.

"At this stage I think they'd be very bold. I think a lot of people are going to wait and see how it goes down with Ryanair first," he said.

"I'm not aware of the airlines in this part of the world looking at that option and I think a lot would argue that it actually probably goes a little bit too far.

"But you know in this day and age you never know what will happen."

Mr Taylor says the process of separating charges is likely to continue as airlines attempt to improve their profit margins.

But he says there are a number of potential complications, including the role of flight attendants.

"Essentially they're going from people who are concerned with safety and service into, for lack of a better word, checkout chicks; just looking to collect revenues be that through credit cards or cash and so forth," Mr Taylor said.

"And I think there's going to be some resistance from flight attendants because to some of them it might be cheapening their role."

Virgin Blue says it currently has no plans to charge for either toilets or overhead lockers.

[Tony G]

I have flown with Jetstar and I have seen them struggle with meal allocations at the moment. They are constantly checking the lists to see which customers have pre ordered a meal. I actually think it is quicker on a standard airline where everyone gets a meal. Can you imagine trying to police who has paid for overhead locker space or the extra admin costs required by the airlines to put all options in place when booking flights. Can't they just add $2 to an airfare and leave it as it is. I feel sorry for the flight attendants that will be putting up with all this.

[Adrian B]

And if you think people will not pee in the seats rather than pay the money, you will be sadly mistaken. Ask the cleaners at your local casino or larger pokies venues about such an instant, and they will tell you how common it is. I can see a time when the replacement cushion inventory will rise, outweighing the revenue raised.

[Harry G]

Could not have put it better myself....... just ask the TT cabin crew about the state of the seats after a 4 sector day!!!!!! And, if one is wet!! that seat was U/s so down 1 or more pax and that means greedy lost dollars, hence why they go to leather seats like JQ.

- Simply a wipe over and the plane gets going quicker hence cutting down dramatically on maintenance.

Other posts note the word greed....... that is what it is all about.
Refer my post under Australia & NZ.

[Daniel M]

I don't see the problem? If people don't like the way the airline is run or what is included in the price, don't fly with them. That's why there is competitors out there...to offer a similar product at a similar price...

[Adrian B]

Daniel,

The issue is not for those who dont pay, but for those who expect a clean and albeit reasonably sanitary seat and are happy to pay, or go before the flight.

99.9% of pax are clean and civil individuals with solid values, and would never think of relieving themselves on a seat for the sake of a pound. The problem is those who dont give a damn and are disgusting creatures. Do we need to have a section called "tight @rse disgustng ferals who p|iss in their seats"? I hope not, but unfortunately the chance of sitting in a urine soaked seat on such a flight is a reality any human being should not expect to deal with.

At one time, a well known casino in Aust removed all their cloth seats and replaced them with leather due to a similar issue. In addition, certain gaiming areas had their entire carpet removed over xmas due to the 'practices' of people, and I am not just talking # 1's either.