Originally Posted by Syzygies

I regularly fly CO between EWR and SFO on a mix of 737 and 757 aircraft. In the past year the "Occupied" lavatory lights have been stuck in the occupied state on more than half my flights. I chose CO over UA because in my trials everything on the UA planes seemed to be broken. This "Occupied" issue is minor, but it gives me the subliminal impression that I'm flying UA.

It turns out that the explanation is simple, and the fix is even simpler. The cleaning crew want to work with the lavatory lights on, and the door open. On newer planes there is a switch in the door frame which simulates an occupied lavatory, and accomplishes this. On older planes they stuff tissue into the door frame hole that receives the door bolt, again simulating an occupied lavatory.

The cleaning staff rarely resets the switch back to normal operation, or pulls the tissue back out of the door frame. The flight attendants may notice the lavatory lights don't work, and may or may not understand why (the switch comes on planes with IFE, so I've heard the IFE blamed), but don't ever feel it is their responsibility to fix a broken "Occupied" lavatory light, even though the fix is utterly trivial.

This is a cultural problem, to be fixed in "give a man a shovel" mode. Determine for yourself that the "Occupied" light is stuck on your flight for the reasons I give, and study the door frame to determine the fix. Then patiently explain to a FA how to carry out the fix, assuming ignorance but not sloth. (This is easier to actually do in First, when there is no waiting line for the lav.) People do tire quickly of being assumed ignorant, which might accomplish the needed cultural shift.