Hal

OK, so what is the latest scoop on the bathroom line up situation? Haven't flown for several months and been reading about prohibition against forming lines at the bathrooms. So how does it work in practice? Taking numbers, or what?

bardo

I have only heard of this for transatlantic flights originating in the UK. Is this your situation?

rocco

Depending on the airline, I have seen this on both international and domestic flights. Usually waiting/standing is prohibited only for the forward (near the cockpit) restroom. The rear restrooms seem to not cause such concerns.

uhoh_busted

Well, it may depend on how the flight crew interprets the rule. We weren't allowed to wait for the forward bathrooms, but it was ok for those at the back on Southwest Airlines flights cross country. Three weeks later, on a Continental flight to Vegas, no one was allowed to line up for either location. It was crazy to watch people standing by their seats mid-plane then trying to hoof it down the aisle to the suddently vacant potty only to see some little kid sitting three seats away pop up and go in in front of them. Taking numbers might be a good solution!

(If this is a duplicate post, sorry -- the post my reply button didn't appear to function the first time)

m_kingdom

For God's sake (yes, again!) do what you need to do, if you're not allowed to queue, what can you do about it? Let's not have sleepless nights over something so utterly utterly trivial.

subcon

we were asked by the pilot not to congregate around the restrooms on a recent flight from paris to atlanta.

as soon as the seatbelt sign went off seven or eight people got up and stood in line at each lavatory.

if there's going to be no enforcement, why have rules? i'm beginning to consider lighting up a "puro" after dinner. it's certainly less aggressive.

Barbara

I think there's a difference between waiting to use the toilet and just standing around stretching your legs and chatting. On long flights, almost everyone has to use the toilet at some time or other and you aren't always lucky enought to catch one when it's empty.

susie

On recent USAir flights to and from Madrid we were instructed several times over the PA not to form lines, but the announcements were largely ignored. There didn't seem to be any enforcement.

ThinGorjus

I just flew from Philadelphia to Atlanta on United and it seemed that this "rule" is being enforced at the flight crew's discretion. I noticed when the air hostesses felt flustered with too many people milling about, they enforced the regulation. When they were relaxing, after having put away the drinks cart, they couldn't have cared if a samba queue formed in the aisle.

I don't think this is trivial, mkingdom. This is another ridiculous rule that has nothing to do with safety from terrorism. What, is Osama bin Laden going to overpower an air hostess whilst waiting for the WC to demand more dinner rolls????? If you fly regularly, you know that most queues form at the rear WC's, away from the cockpit. The only things in the back of the plane are ovens and bags of crisps. Bother. Cheers, John G.

m_kingdom

It is trivial, there's nothing one can do about it, it's not going to kill you, delay your travel, or have any serious consequences. Relax, and enjoy the flightl.

GSteed

Military aircrew suggest using a temporary storage facility. Males condoms, Females absorbent pads.

SeaUrchin

What next, bed pans?

Snoopy

m_kingdom;

What is it that you are saying is utterly utterly trivial?

1. Peeing, or
2. Standing in line to pee,
3. The concern over whether or not standing in line to pee is ok?

Snoopy

Snoopy

ThinGorjus (by the way, truth be known, if we had to use a moniker that was honest, mine would be FatUgly);

You wrote:

"This is another ridiculous rule that has nothing to do with safety from terrorism. What, is Osama bin Laden going to overpower an air hostess whilst waiting for the WC to demand more dinner rolls?????"

As a practical matter (meaning probability of occurrence) you may be right, but countries with a curfew or that are under some form of martial law prohibit people from congregating in groups of more than 3 or 4 people, ostensibly to make organized malicious activity more difficult.

So, to answer your rhetorical question, "yes", though I doubt it would be OBL, and I doubt that the objective would be to obtain more dinner rolls. Rather, with enough people congregating around the galley to create a distraction, perhaps someone might "taint" the food. If this sounds preposterous to you, PLEASE don't enter law enforcement as a career.

Snoopy

m_kingdom

All 3!

Snoopy

I don't think I've ever heard micturation called trivial.