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Will Ryanair charge passengers to use the toilet? It might.
It might be a good thing that drinks are more scarce when you fly these days if you consider that Ryanair may charge people for using the toilet.
Scott thought this might happen when he wrote his post about the check-in desks at Ryanair becoming a thing of the past. Knowing Scott, he was taking a tongue-in-cheek approach, something we're fond of here at Gadling. But, Scott, as it turns out, has a cracker jack mind.
Just this morning, two articles came to our attention right as dawn broke. Both of them, this one from Gadling reader Neil, and this one from our own pilot extraordinaire Kent indicate that Ryanair is seriously considering adding a coin slot to their toilet doors as a revenue generator. You have to pee--or you know, the other; you have to pay. According to Ryanair cheif executive Michael O'Leary, everyone who flies Ryanair has coins to use for a toilet so this shouldn't be a problem.
But what if it is? What about that one person who really has to go, but forgot about the fee and, feeling a bit dry mouthed, bought a pack of gum in the airport using up what little change was left after a night out on the town? What about that person Mr. O'Leary? Will you install change machines just in case? Then that adds to weight which adds to fuel costs which is a real slippery slope when you think about it.
I hesitate to say this, but they could also charge for toilet paper. Flight attendents could sell squares during the flight. Depending upon how much you need that toilet may determine how many squares. I've gladly paid for toilet paper at toilets before. Ryanair executives, I'm just kidding. Don't be ridiculous. [RTÉ News and Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jamie Rhein Feb 27th 2009 2:44PM
Nick, too funny. Here's the dilemma. What if you have only change enough for one thing? the toilet or oxygen.
Patti Feb 28th 2009 8:27PM
If they took credit cards, it could be called "Swipe and Wipe".
johnmc Feb 27th 2009 3:13PM
The original video is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7914542.stm
At about the 38 second mark, after being asked to clarify, it's fairly obvious that O'Leary thinks the interviewer is incredibly gullible and decides to run with it. I'm amazed at how much free press they're getting over this one.
ProfT Feb 27th 2009 4:56PM
Back a few years ago Ryan was a keynote speaker for faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He gave a rundown on how the company works. How a person seeking employment must pay for: an application, uniforms, and other items. The passenger of course pays for just about everything and it came up then about the loo's. He felt he could not expect customers to do that ancipating the alternative if that were to happen.
But when you do the math, it sounds pretty good.
Kevin Feb 28th 2009 4:44PM
Nice.. I actually was introduced to the concept of selling squares in Cairo in 1999. You can use the WC for free, you just can't clean up for free. Perhaps he wants people to think of Ryan Air as a third world airline?
Matt Sweet Feb 28th 2009 5:56PM
We tried to contact Mr O'Leary regarding this issue to get a comment, but Ryanair are notoriously hard to contact.
It does seem obvious that Ryanair do this for the publicity, but is always nice to get an official soundbite when they do play this card.
We believe there is such a thing as too much bad publicity and Ryanair already have to be high on everyones' least liked airlines list. In fact http://www.thetravelcube.co.uk
, doesn't endorse Ryanair and will not list offers or any kind of advertising from them owing to previous poor form on their behalf.
Garren Mar 1st 2009 10:47PM
The older I get the more stuped the world gets. I see the world going down the toilet and now we are talking about paying for it . Arnt we already paying?