Question...

Is using the lavatory in your ticketed cabin a Federal Air Regulation? I know that (for example) some flight attendants say that "due to United Security Policy" you have to use the lav in your ticketed cabin while others say "due to Federal regulations". Which is it?

Also, are the lavatory rules different for domestic flight vs. international flights?

And if it is a FAR, does anyone know the FAR number? I have tried to find it and can't seem to.

Thanks!

Not a FAR.

United paranoia strikes again. Make sure you never yell 'boo' at a United FA....they might have a stroke.

There is no FAR. Period.

There is a security directive from the geniuses at the TSA that states on international flights, passengers should use the lav in their cabin - since we all know how the carnage of 9/11 was caused by international flights and terrorists only enter the US on international flights

It's really not a security issue, but a courtesy and privacy one. Y folks should not be coming into C or F to use the lavs which are set aside for premium cabin passengers.

When I'm flying in F, I don't like Y people coming into my cabin, and when I'm Y, I'd never think of walking forward to use the F lav or store my carry-ons in F like some people think they have the right to do

The unwashed masses don't belong in F.

If there is a valid security concern, it would be about multiple pax congregating at the F lav, near the cockpit door (747's obviously excepted). There's several dozen reasons why such a congregation would be unlikely to "successfully" take over the plane, but it could be the first visible sign of such an attempt.

When an airline (and the "rule" is not limited to just UA) insists that pax use the lav in the ticketed cabin, it makes such congregations and the resulting concern less likely.

I've heard it phrased as a TSA requirement. (Would give them something to oversee when the coming midflight ID check is rolled out /sarcasm)

A FAR? pshaw. Some airline employees long ago concluded that all pax are fools and will do exactly what employees say if they cloak the requirement as a FAR.

It's not in the FARs. The rule is from a TSA Security Directive issued a few years ago. You will get to read the Security Directives only if you have a need-to-know.

Yes - the TSA Security Directive requires that airlines announce the rule on inbound international flights - Thou shalt use the lav in your ticketed cabin. Airlines are, of course, free to announce and enforce the rule on a more restrictive basis if they wish. If UA wants to announce and enforce it on outbound flights or domestic flights, that's UA prerogative.

I do see lots of people coming into F to use the lav. Saw it today on AS.

What exactly is the rule? In the past I've seen claims about what FAA Security Directives required, where those claims later turned out to be false. (e.g., Someone claimed that the SD says the airline must insist that passengers do X, whereas when I later saw the text of the SD, the SD just said that airlines must ask passengers to do X, but never stated that airlines must enforce that.)

Does the SD require that airlines prevent all passengers from using restrooms outside their ticketed cabins? I'm skeptical.

For instance, on a recent flight, flight attendants announced that folks in economy class should not use the cabin in first class unless a meal cart was blocking their way, in which case they should avoid congregating near the first class restroom and if there is a line, passengers should form a line and wait in economy class. That sounds like the kind of thing I can imagine a Security Directive stating -- and it is subtly different from requiring that no passenger may ever use any restroom outside his/her ticketed cabin.

(Let's count the differences: (a) the difference between not allowing economy passengers use of first-class restroom, vs not allowing first-class passengers use of economy restroom; (b) the difference between not allowing economy passengers to use the first-class restroom, vs allowing them to do so as long as it does not create congregation near the first-class restroom; (c) the difference between one's ticketed cabin and the cabin where one's seat assignment is (e.g., upgrades). There are probably more.)

Details matter.