Back in May, we reported on American Airlines’ plan to both take away all the legroom and shrink the size of the toilets on their Boeing 737 Max jets. American has followed through on that, and, unsurprisingly, it’s not just making passengers miserable, but everyone else who deals with the plane as well.
The LA Times looked at the bathrooms, which are so small the sink only lets you wash one hand at a time, and while that sounds bad, it’s even worse for the flight attendants:
The lavatories at the back of the plane are located between the passenger seats and the galley where the flight attendants prepare drinks and snacks for the fliers. When both doors to the lavatories are open, the flight attendants are sealed off in the galley, blocking them from getting to the passengers, the flight attendants complained. They also said the sinks in the bathrooms are so tiny that the water from the faucet splashes onto anyone attempting to wash their hands.
If this sounds terrible, fortunately, for now, it’ll only be on the Miami to New York run. But American wants to get twenty of these microtoileted jets in the air every year between now and 2022, so you’ll likely contemplate the mystery of one hand washing soon enough if you regularly decide to be among “the world’s greatest flyers.”
So why even do this? Airlines are in the middle of a cutthroat price war that’s steadily driving down the cost of getting people from one place to another, and every pound of weight that pays to be there, whether it’s another human buying a ticket or a checked bag that’s no longer free, gives them a micron more room on those razor thin margins. So, until people outright revolt, expect more attempts to fit in even more seats. But, hey, at least it could be a lot worse.
(via The LA Times)
