Bigger Lavatories Please!

This may sound like a flippant posting, but think about it.
Many long haul fares in First can run anything to $10,000 round trip on major airlines.

The airlines now spend MEGA bucks on sleeper seats, more room, more features, more movies, leather toiletry bags, limo transfer, lounges worth millions each to build, world class chefs dreaming up new menus, silver cutlery, $100 bottles of French bubbly and Cognac, and all kinds of other expensive stuff to lure these travelers. And million dollar ad campaigns to tell everyone about it all.

All very nice. From the second that $10,000 spender leaves home in his airport limo (provided by many airlines) until the Limo ride at the other end, he is treated like an Arab Sheik in EVERY way, and TOTALLY differently from all the plebs down back. Except in ONE area.

Until the French booze and pate and filet lead to the (many!) inevitable trips to the bathroom.

What does the $0,000 passenger get? Stock standard Boeing or Airbus rest rooms. The odd rose, or unstoppered bottle of cologne or moisturizer are in there yes, but check the size, decor and features ... the SAME as the guy down back in row 49d is using on his $365 fare.

Look at the size of some of the guys in paid first. BIG guys. John Candy type guys. How some of them get in the DOOR of those little bathrooms sure beats me. Middle aged spread. They LIKE the huge seats, the BIG lounges. And boy I bet they hate the TINY loos!

I can’t believe that some airlines have not had Boeing and/or Airbus configure new planes on order with BIG rest rooms. TWICE the size. With a WINDOW – why not? With a RANGE of expensive toiletries. And quality fittings. Brass. Subtle chrome. Not Boeing stainless steel stock standard.

Lets face it ….. pretty well EVERY Jumbo rolling off the line in Seattle has the upper deck lavatories used only by flight crew AND Business pax, so upgrade those automatically to double size. Likewise, the nose cone of pretty well every jumbo has First in there. Do those automatically too on new jumbos. Ditto front restrooms of 767, 777 etc.

No rocket science needed. The COST of doing this is a pure ONE OFF. OK, so what if it costs say $100,000 extra per plane? That’s only TEN First Class fliers won from another airline in the history of the planes 10 year flying life. TEN curious fat guys! In TEN years, and they are line ball! Money well spend IMHO. AND, what a talking point among other fliers and the industry for the first major to do it. A new New York chef is a yawn, a double size rest room is a real conversation piece if you can casually mention in conversation how attractive it was.

We know United now gives 5” extra per row for say 8 rows as a marketing whim in COACH . Nice. That is 40” by the full width of the cabin. Others regularly do these kinda things.

What do others think of the idea? If it ever happens on UA first up, United owe me 1K For Life status. And a bottle of Cognac!

Glen In Sydney (and p.s. .. no I am NOT a John Candy size desperately in need of such huge facilities!)