The head in my Columbia 28 sailboat is cramped even by by dwarfish standards. On the plus side, if you are using it while heeled over in a brisk wind w/ accompanying waves, it’s rather easy to brace yourself using any available surface! I would say it’s about 3/4th the size of a typical commercial aircraft lav.
I used to love the window seat, yet now, I go for the lowest-numbered aisle seat. So no good stories, maybe once or twice sitting near one and flush, click-door-opens, click-door-shuts, rinse and repeat.
A former instructor of mine died of a DVT acquired on a plane, and a friend got two clots in her heart. No thanks. Medically, I’m supposed to walk around at least every 2 hours, so I might as well use the facilities. It helps that I’m supposed to stay very hydrated.
We’re all supposed to stay very hydrated.
A decent fraction of medical events on planes come from folks, mostly elderly, deliberately dehydrating themselves. Usually over some misguided aversion to peeing on a plane. Not a smart tradeoff IME / IMO.
smaller lavs could mean + 1 row in the plane, and that means, depending model 6 - 11 extra pax, and for easy math, assuming $1k x person on an international flight - that might be $10k per flight …
maybe one of the resident pilots can opine on pax limitations in today’s planes (is it space (=rows) or weight or regulation (x persons per exit) or what not…
There was (is?) a flight from Vienna to Bratislava … a distance that (if pressed) I could walk.
so there are flights and flights …
Given the impressive number of flights you were on, that does sound unusual. I don’t fly nearly so frequently, but between 1999-2022, I used the lavatory once on all the domestic flights I took during that time. Back in 2022 on a United flight, I had a difficult time using the restroom because the light didn’t pop on when I closed the door. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the light on, so I ended up using the flashlight on my phone to provide illumination.
Pretty much it’s just length of jet’s cabin divided by reasonable seat pitch = max pax capacity.
The exit count (and FA staffing) requirements come in pretty big buckets. And the base model of whatever jet is generally designed to pretty well flll the buckets. Such that a baby stretch means no more FAs or doors, but a big stretch requires adding doors and FAs. Which are very costly for the incremental passengers carried.
Deciding to stretch beyond the place where extra doors or FAs become required is a bigger business hurdle for both the airplane maker and the airplane operator.
I figured this out, a couple of years ago … as doing #2 comes with a freebie #1 … and then I eventually noticed I don’t have to turn on the light when getting up at night to do a #1 and wake up the Ms.
Bonustrack:
There are german diss-expressions for “less than manly men” … and one is Warmduscher (he who showers only with warm water (literally: warm-showerer)) and the other is Sitzpinkler (he, who pisses seated (lit:seated-pisser))
… but as you mention - your benefits are tangible, whereas the disses ain’t … and I AM a practical man.
I said i usually use the toilet on a flight. But truth be told, NY-BOS, NY-DC, Chicago-Indianapolis… there are lots of short hops where i generally don’t use the lav.
True. And once upon a time if I could expect less than 5 hrs from boarding call to deplaning I could confidently settle myself in the window seat for the duration.
(Alas, that to which the flesh is heir especially among those past their 50s, has greatly narrowed that margin)
Five hours is enough that i want to walk around. Even if i don’t actually need to pee, I’ll get up and use the restroom. Yes, even if I’m in the window seat.