We have to imagine there's some kind of countdown timer in the offices of Irish LCC Ryanair. The clock ticks down second by second, and when the buzzer goes off it's time for the airline's customers-are-there-for-abusing CEO Michael O'Leary to say something outrageous about airline fees or peeing or airline fees for peeing. That way Ryanair can solidify its "no frills" branding, before turning around and—per a BBC expose—"duping customers with hidden fees." Marketing is magic.
Apparently the publicity timer recently hit zero, because O'Leary just gave this grating interview to The Independent. His new proposal is to remove two of the three toilets in every Ryanair Boeing 737-800, and to use the resulting space to install a total of six new seats.
That would allow the airline to stuff 195 passengers into every flight, instead of the 189 to which they're currently limited, and so they claim they're asking Boeing to sign off on the safety issues. Like so many other Ryanair brainstorms, we doubt this will go anywhere.]]>
The cleaning lady thought we were crazy taking pictures inside a restroom, but the public restrooms at Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport are actually something to write home about.
Flattering lighting, stools in the makeup room and—boy oh boy—Dyson Airblade hand dryers? Be still our frequent flying hearts! ]]>
In the midst of all the Weinergate 2011 talk, it's important to step back and realize that America has a fine history of sexual political intrigue, and that sometimes we come closer to the history of it than we expect. Take, for example, the infamous Senator Larry Craig bathroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.
It's been almost four years to the date (June 11, 2007) when Idaho Senator Craig was arrested for "lewd behavior" after making the foot-tapping signals to initiate a gay sex encounter in one of the numerous men's restrooms at the airport. As the story goes, the man he was signalling to was actually an undercover cop, and Larry was cuffed and booked.
The bathroom still exists just as it was, and just this morning was watched as travelers unwittingly passed by or through it. If you'd not like to miss out on the chance to note this odd little landmark in American Political History, we'll help you find it:]]>
Ryanair isn't the only one in love with the idea of pee fees; European train stations have elevated it from just an idea to a practice, installing many automatic pay bathrooms to serve the tens of thousands of travelers who pass through every day. One such station is the Zürich Hauptbahnhof in Switzerland, known as a hustley-bustley nexus for trains around the continent.
The pee fee area is hilariously named "McClean," though not associated with the Golden Arches in any way. It's a fancy pee station; there's also the option of taking a shower or just using a vanity to freshen up, although you have to pay extra, of course. ]]>
Airport washroom attendants. Yes, they do exist. Don't be frightened when you enter the bathroom at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, because there will be an airport employee there to greet you, guide you to an available stall, and even pump the hand towel machine for you. It's weird and potentially off-putting and no other US airport seems to have this, so what's the deal with them?
The issue of the CLT bathroom attendants is pretty common; even skateboarder Tony Hawk has tweeted about them, and it wasn't until a friend ran into them during a US Airways layover this weekend that we realized how unsettling the unexpected interaction can be. Heck—the best restaurants and five-star hotels with happening lobby scenes don't even use attendants any more. So why this airport? ]]>
Airport bathrooms are—as Larry Craig could tell you—not exactly the most sanitary or safe places. The exception to this is, of course, spick and span Japan, especially with their newly opened international terminal at Tokyo-Haneda Airport. We had the opportunity to swing by the opening festivities a couple months ago while we were in Tokyo (see all those fun stories here), and aside from the old Tokyo mini-amusement park and other curiosities of the terminal, we were really taken by the attention to detail on everything else...including the public toilets. ]]>
We're literally just coming down from our first Lufthansa A380 flight experience, and even though we were stuck with a middle seat in economy, we did manage to sneak around upstairs in the First and Business class sections.
In this A380 superjumbo plane, there's a plethora of new features that had us saying "WHAAT?! That is awesome!" A few of these include USB ports for charging or playing media from your mobile devices in all classes, touchscreen TVs with three channels of outside live view cameras, and massively upgraded bathrooms.
The latter, the bathrooms, were obviously most crazy-impressive in First Class, whose new design wasn't unveiled at all until yesterday, when we stepped onboard at Hamburg's Finkenwerder airfield, the private tarmac of Airbus. To see exactly what we mean by "crazy-impressive bathrooms," check out a video tour and our photo gallery after the jump! ]]>