Boeing Says “No” To Ryanair’s Pay-to-Pee Plan

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

From Blogger Pictures

You have to admire the gall.

Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary, told Aol Travel that passengers are too dependent on airplane toilets, and said passengers should control the urge to use the airborne lavatories.

So he’s asked passengers to change the way they do their business, and use the toilets in the airport instead!

O’Leary’s peevishness may stem from the fact that Boeing nixed the idea of eliminating all but one toilet on the plane, so the low-cost airline could add six more seats and make that much more revenue.

And O’Leary hates not to make money.

A Boeing spokesperson said that removing the toilets would hamper evacuation (pun intended) efforts in case of a flight emergency.

On April 7, Ryanair announced that they were going ahead with plans to install the coin-operated toilet on 168 planes and planned to charge £1 or €1 (around $1.34) for use of the facility.

That would mean one toilet for 189 passengers, but O’Leary told the Irish Times a month or so ago that there is no requirement for a plane to have toilets and, as he sees it, three toilets on a plane is excessive, adds weight to the flight and, yes, reduces revenue.

Apparently, airlines save $440,000 per year for every 25 pounds they removed from the aircraft.

American Airlines shifted to lighter weight drinks carts and saved money and most airlines have reduced the flow of water from their sinks.

Ryanair already has virtually eliminated any creature comforts. Its vinyl seats don’t recline, and have no seat-back pockets for safety cards and in-flight magazines.

Undaunted, O’Leary hopes to convince Boeing that having one toilet per plane is the way to go. His argument doubtless will be that passengers will do anything to keep the cost of a flight down.

This time he may have gotten it wrong.

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

Hey, that's cool and nice to hear. If an old post reads like a new one, makes me feel good....or bad, that nothing is changing in the world! Many thanks, TR

[Travel Rob]

I didn't look at the date of the post.I'm sorry about that.Yes RyanAir keeps the crazy proposals coming.

I really thought it was funny that the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power was taking bets on what the next fee would be earlier this month.

I was sad that the airline Skybus didn't make it here.They actually had  some $10 airfares on all of their flights.Now Vision is coming out with $39.00 flights. In general, the budgets in the US have done a pretty good job with service too.

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

Thanks for the comment, Travel Robb! Odd you found such an old post, but I'm glad you did. RyanAir seems like the Teflon airline. As long as the prices are low, it seens to be able to do whaht it wants
Cheers

[Travel Rob]

Great comments. Remember the old Southern Air commercial where the guy goes into second class. Thats what RyanAir is striving for.

http://tinyurl.com/22wdt4w

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

A revolution in the making. To pee or not to pee could be the war cry
cheers

[John Kipper]

You're on to something, Forrest. We just need to get a good group of activist travelers on one of those Ryanair flights to all stage a pee-in, making sure to hit both the carpet and the upholstery. Bet you those miserly beancounters at Ryanair would drop the toilet fee real fast!!

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

Well, you may have to < Forrest. Or buy lots of Depends! Thanks for writing

[Forrest Walker]

I'll just pee in my vinyl seat.