Originally Posted by Alaska F/A

The way I understand it is that the only time it is REQUIRED that pax use the lav in their own cabin is an international flight TO the US... and even then we must make exceptions for the elderly, very young and disabled.

I am almost always working up front and constantly keep an eye on the cart in the back... when the cart is in the aisle there simply is no where else to go (except on the -900s with the mid-cabin lavatory) and I of course allow one at a time to come forward but anyone waiting must wait behind the curtain at row 3 or 4. If a FC pax is needing to use the lav, I play roadguard and ask the MC pax to wait until the FC pax has used the lav.

Once the aisle is clear, I send all except the above exceptions to the aft lavs.

One other thing to keep in mind is that it is possible that one of the aft lavs could have been out of service (for a variety of reasons) and in that case we really have no option but to allow greater use of the FC lav, but again, one at a time must always be the case.