HDQDD

Currently, I’m seated in Comfort Plus on an Airbus. I got up to use the head and headed to the back. A nice FA stopped me and told me, “you know: C+ pax can use the F lav”. I responded with: “Oh?, well I saw the curtain was closed so I just assumed..”. He said: “on domestic flights it’s fine for C+ to use the F lav, just not on international flights”.

I’ve never heard this before. Is this an official policy? I’m good with whatever, but this was news to me.

emma dog

Yes, you can use whatever bathroom is most convenient on domestic DL flights.

jrl767

have the FAs quit making the "Please use the lav in the cabin in which you are seated" announcement as part of the preflight spiel?

regardless, it sure sounds like we're in the "Policy isn't what's written or announced; policy is what's practiced" zone again

HDQDD

No, I still hear that announcement quite often on domestic flights. And it’s usually “use the lavs in your assigned cabin” or some such.

MCO Flyer

Thats only on INTL or widebody flights. Domestic can typically use any lav, although on some 757s I’ve seen FAs reserve the front lav for FC and crew as there’s a Lav right next to 2L for Y and C+.

Dracarys

Just flew in C+ from LAX to MSP. My daughter (age 15) used the bathroom in F with no issues at all.

krispy84

Thank goodness I wasn’t on this flight in F. I’d have been choking into my G&T seeing non-F pax using the forward lavatory 😁😁

(tongue partially in-cheek for the avoidance of doubt &#128513

pt360

Never had any issue using any Lav on a Domestic flight. Policy and practice for myself and most others is "look which is occupied". I have been flying regularly since I was a teen and never had an issue on domestic lol.

ijgordon

Well, for international flights (and I think technically it's just flights INTO the U.S.), it's an FAA requirement that passengers stay in their ticketed cabin. Of course that doesn't really prevent J pax from wandering through Y in practice, but I don't think the spirit of that rule was really aimed at that (it was keeping pax away from the cockpit).

Domestically as there's no federal rule, it's really just a customer service issue. Yes, ideally Y pax should use the Y lavs and F use F, but on a single-aisle aircraft with no mid-cabin lavs that becomes very difficult to enforce when there are carts in the aisle. So what's the point of having a policy that's often difficult to reasonably enforce? Thus, no policy.

FWIW, on my last inbound DL int'l flight, one of the two lavs in the front of business class was inoperable, so there was no way I was waiting behind even one person in line, so I went back through Y and used the Y lavs at least once. Too bad.

indufan

What's the technical part? Let's see the F.A.R.

ATOBTTR

The rules or at least the way it should be:
When I’m in Y or C+, I should be allowed to use any lav on the plane, even the one in F.
When I’m in F, the peasants in Y need to stick to using the lav in their cabin so I don’t have to wait behind them.

Adelphos

For the most part, when sitting in C+, I am using the front lavatory. I have walked all the way back when the front was occupied, and there was a clear path to the back. But practicality demands that the front 1/3 of the plane (which basically includes F and C+) use the front lav.

exwannabe

On planes with no lavs in C+ then clearly the pax can use another cabin.

There has never been any rule saying "if your cabin does not have a lav you must go to the back".

FabCW

When lavatories get really busy, I think people should be able to use whichever is free. Sometimes, nature calls and you gotta go. 🤣

ijgordon

Ok, I guess maybe outdated, not from FAA and maybe not even real, but not pulled out of my rear.
Actual FAR to remain in ticketed cabin?