Drain on airline profits means smaller loos

It looks airlines will now vie for the tiniest toilet title as the industry’s profits dip and employee costs are slated to rise. Given that American Airlines told investors last year that more seats per aircraft would boost its annual income by $500 million and JetBlue calculated that by adding just 12 extra seats on every plane would yield an extra $100 million per year, recent reports that airline toilets — already not commodious —are about to become even smaller has a ring of inevitability. Ryanair’s recently declared first-quarter profits are down by a fifth amid rising oil prices and costs, including a 20% pay hike for pilots. So, it may just take the lead in squeezing out more chargeable space from the ‘free’ area still available on aircraft. Passengers compare using even current toilets as a ‘yoga exercise’, but that, of course, can be cleverly marketed by airlines as a free health benefit offered to passengers.

However, increasingly strident airline staff — a phenomenon currently creating rough weather for Ryanair, for instance —cannot be addressed by shrinking toilets in favour of more seats. Could the next innovation be robotic cabin crew to obviate truculent union demands? Passengers would find it difficult to argue with cyborg crews, who, in turn, would not protest against longer work hours. Nor would the latter need to use the toilet.