Restroom Ransom

by Lea Tyrrell

Like every Long Islander right now, I’m pretty tired of being “nickel and dimed” by every company and level of government trying to wring every last cent out of me. But I couldn’t believe one of the latest money-making proposals from an airline.

 

The head of Ryanair, an Irish airline, proposed making passengers pay to use the onboard bathrooms.   The CEO, Michael O’Leary, has been described as “arrogant,” “extravagantly outspoken,” and “ruthless” in his management style.  In other words, not above doing or saying something just for the publicity.  So a lot of people didn’t know whether to take his proposal seriously.  But these days, money is so tight, anything’s possible.

 

 But then O’Leary insisted to reporters he was serious.  He told them he’d asked engineers at Boeing to design toilets with doors that open only if you swipe a valid credit card.  O’Leary’s original idea, he says, was to make them coin-operated, but that couldn’t work because the airline operates in areas using both the euro and the British pound.  O’Leary estimated pay toilets would make the airline about $20 million dollars a year.

 

I had visions of poor moms and dads rummaging through purses, wallets and pockets looking for change after their toddler waited until the last minute to tell them they had “to go!”  It’s a situation, as a mom, I’m familiar with and I can’t imagine having to do that on a plane.  C’mon, even the LIRR doesn’t charge you to use the bathroom on the train (although a lot of passengers say you couldn’t PAY them to use those bathrooms.  “Bathroom cleanliness” doesn’t usually get high marks from commuters in the annual LIRR report card.)

The good thing is that O’Leary recently admitted to a tourism conference that the whole thing was nothing more than a PR stunt.  He said “It’s NOT LIKELY to happen.”  Although that doesn’t sound to me like an idea that’s completely off the table .  But O’Leary’s let the cat out of the bag!  Remember when the first airline proposed charging you for anything more than one piece of luggage?  Boy, was that an idea that caught on fast with the other airlines!  Who’s to say another airline won’t implement the “pay to pee” plan, as it’s been dubbed.   Like I said before, these days money is so tight, anything’s possible!   

  

    

Comments

[Mike Dougherty]

RyanAir is my national airline company and are by far and away the worst budget airline to fly with. The others give you crappy service in order to cut corners and make it cheap. RyanAir seems to deliberately make the experience more unpleasant. It's almost like they think that the longer they make you wait, the more uncomfortable they make you feel and the ruder their staff are, the more you'll appreciate the low price you've paid.

Flying RyanAir is something for people with a serious desire for adventure. Not because of the planes, though, because they're generally in good shape. But they only depart and land at desolate, remote airports and if you're really unlucky, they WILL leave you stranded on some god-forsaken airfield in the middle of nowhere because they just canceled your flight with no explanation. Oh, and don't expect a refund, no, and if you really have to get going you'll have to chip in for a ticket from a REAL airline going from a REAL airport all by yourself.

Rememeber - RyanAir are the guys that made you pay a fee to APPLY for a job there.

True story -look it up.

[John]

"C’mon, even the LIRR doesn’t charge you to use the bathroom on the train..."

Ack! Why would you ever say that out loud!? Don't give the MTA any ideas!

(I'd rant about the waste of time, energy, and money that flying has become, but I assume we're all familiar with the concept. Between the TSA groping and insulting people to the complete indifference of the attendants, paying to use the toilet might be the most enjoyable part of the trip, these days.)

[Orville Wright]

Ryanair is the most craven, mercenary bunch of parasites in the entire airline industry. Originally they claimed to be the low cost airline but by the time you add up all the fees and supplementals they are very expensive. I hope all their nickel and diming leads to a backlash that sees them lose more money than they'd ever gain.

When a company is in such a state that these kinds of stupid ideas escape the brainstorming sessions and are actually considered, it's time to stop using their business.

Flying coach class already is akin to taking a bus out of Newark, now as soon as the first passanger decides not to pony up the money for the lkavatory, it will come with the associated aromas as well.