Irish airline Ryanair considers aircraft with standing room, pay toilets

Irish airline Ryanair’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary is making headlines once again with his recent proposal to allow some of its passengers to stand during flights. No, this is not a joke or publicity stunt from Mr. O’Leary, as he has been known to suggest other non-conformist ideas that have now been implemented by airlines around the world.

Initial talks about “standing room only” passengers have already been held with Boeing about designing an aircraft that includes both seated travelers and standees. Approval has also been requested from the Irish Aviation Authority before any aircraft with this capability would be ordered. The low-cost airline has also proposed lower prices for passengers who sit on bar stool type aircraft seats with seat belts around their waists.

Apparently Mr. O’Leary got the idea from a Chinese airline named Spring, which first came up with the idea. Spring estimates that costs would be reduced by 20 percent if standing room was allowed on their aircraft, and they could accommodate up to 50 percent more passengers. Do bear in mind however that this is the same Michael O’Leary who earlier this year commented that passengers could be charged to use the aircraft lavatories. At the time he said that Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) was looking into the possibility of having a coin slot installed on the aircraft’s restroom doors so that passengers might actually have to pay to use the facilities. How far the airline has gone toward implementation of this proposal internally isn’t known.

Another suggestion from Mr. O’Leary was the introduction of a “fat tax” for overweight passengers.

Ryanair began operations in 1985 and has grown by leaps and bounds ever since. They currently operate 196 Boeing 737-800 aircraft to 146 cities in 26 countries. The airline expects to carry nearly 67 million passengers in 2009 and now has the largest airline booking site in Europe. Their on-time performance is typically near the top of all European airlines and their customer complaints near the bottom. The airline continues to excel with their concept of a minimal charge for the airline reservation and additional fees for airport check-in, a reserved seat, checked baggage, in-flight refreshments, and so on. On-line check-in is offered from 15 days to 4 hours prior to departure.