It certainly got them in the news.

RyanAir: The airline that doesn't charge you to use the toilet!

you can say that about your ceo?

Such a policy made no sense whatsoever anyway. How much would they charge? $1 (or 1 Euro) at the most?

How much would that get them, $50 per flight?

The backlash from such a policy would cost far more. It would be better to charge .25 more per seat on a 200 seat flight than try the loo tax.

"...his spokesman cautioned Michael O'Leary often just made things up at will."

Based on that statement, I think I'll run out and get some RyanAir stock. That's the some sound business philosophy there. Has he thought about consulting with Joaquin Phoenix?

They might make more money if they have free beer and coctails and charge extra for the the restroom

@Elcheecho: yes, but only once!

I would start watching out for wet seat cushions in the plane...

Toilet seat covers, hell! Give us some airplane seat covers!

Oh yeah, they'll start charging for those too...

@Murph1908: Ryanair doesn't care about backlash. Just google "Ryanair complaints". They charge a fraction of what the Majors in Europe charge, so people will always get on their planes.

I think they seriously wanted to try it but wanted public opinion. When the proverbial backlash came they just laughed it off as a joke while wiping the perspiration from their brow.

Are there any legal issues behind charging for the use of a bathroom on a flight? Regardless of the distance isn't illegal to block someone from eliminating* for the sake of making more money? You're stuck in a private flying company plane not in a public place like those public pay toilets. Is a company allowed to say "You do not have permission to eliminate unless you pay us"? And is that something they are allowed to remove from ticket prices? Smells like human rights violations, no?

*I have a dog in puppy school. They call his pooping eliminating.

Doesn't Europe outlaw coin-operated lavs like the US?

Boy, they have a crack PR plan! The calling-a-blogger-an-idiot incident a few days ago and then this - whew - that's more PR than I can handle.

I wonder how the CEO feels about this?

@humphrmi: Last time I was in France, 1993, there were pay potties.... Might have changed since then. Boy, I haven't been on a good trip in a very long time, huh?

England has plenty of pay-to-use "public" toilets. Seems the pertinent law would be which kinds of businesses are required to provide free to use facilities.

@Murph1908: And imagine how much of that money would be used to clean the piss-soaked seats.

@Skeetz: It's a stupid idea and, as far as I can tell, couldn't possibly end well for them if they are/were serious about going forward with it, but I've always pictured human rights violations as something more substantial than someone choosing to take an airline flight with known restrictions.

Now, if the airline forces people onto the planes and tells them that work shall set them free, they've crossed the line.

@humphrmi:
If that costs them 1 passenger every 4 flights, it's done more harm than good.

@Murph1908: I don't disagree with you and I personally won't fly Ryanair when I'm in Europe, but that's what they are.

What's he doing with all that piss he's taking? Does he plan to distill it and serve it on all his planes?

How about a pay smoking room?

i'm entirely willing to pee in a cup and hand it to a stewardess for disposal if that will save the airline money.

This reminds me of this funny Alaska Airlines commercial where they had a pay toilet on board and one guy was trying to find people with quarters..

@cmdrsass: In Ireland talk like that is par for the course.

@Yossarian: That's the thing though.. people don't always read the fine print, they forget, their secretaries book cheap flights and forget to put the "pee change" in the bosses coat pocket.. and it sucks to have to think that way about washroom needs..

Your last point about work just made me think of the Flintstones.. all the passengers pedaling to keep the plane in the air.. heh

@Blueskylaw: Seriously, watch the original video. The look on his face alone when he realised that the interviewer thought he was serious was enough to convince me that he was not. [news.bbc.co.uk] - right around the 38 second mark.

@QADude: Ha! This reminds me of one of my favorite MadTV skits.

What will airlines think of next .

Perhaps incident and the blogger comment is a way to get their name out there. They both seem a little gimmicky to me. FWIW, it worked. I have never used Ryanair but will consider it based on the very low price

Welcome to RyanAir... where the Guinness is always free, as much as we can get you to drink... but the can with cost you a "C" note.

"Basically Michael wakes up in the morning and is completely hungover from the nights bender, so you can't really trust anything he says until he has his first draft at around 1. Until then, you should basically ignore him because he's also not a morning person and tends to be a little grumpy. Thing is, you can't really trust him after about 1:30 because by then he'll be completely sloshed. If you can catch him between 1 and 1:30, you have a decent shot at getting some sort of credible statement out of him."

@Elcheecho: When this is your CEO, of course you can!

I like this airline more and more.

"Welcome to flight 1736 with service to Dublin and parts beyond. I'm your captain Conor Dunlevy, and I'm probably sober enough to fly this crate, so let's get going."

@edwardso: Only use them if you are an absolutely average traveler who packs light because they charge for pretty much everything else. And of course the customer service, which is non-existent.

Ah, the Irish sense of humor. I wonder if it'll still be there when their pax counts drop into the toilet.

They should be more careful and start applying a more professional appearance to what they do instead of being a bunch of jokers.

That's two strikes against them in a handful of days. Whats next, coin operated seats? Or maybe the air supply?