Disturbing news from Horizon Air: rising costs have apparently forced the airline to replace lavatory sinks with a “lone bottle of hand sanitizer glued to the counter.”

The New York Times explains:

…a recent short hop I took on Horizon Air set a new dismal standard for cost efficiency.

The lavatory had no sink.

Ick.

It did have a lone plastic bottle of hand sanitizer glued to the counter.

The proposed passenger bill of rights recently thrown out by the United States appeals court would have provided travelers with “food, water, fresh air, power and working restrooms on any flight that has left the gate and been on the tarmac for more than three hours.” That document didn’t feel the need to expressly define restrooms as including a sink within which to wash one’s hands.

The article then goes on to discuss the impact of airline aesthetics on the customer experience. Yawn! Let’s talk about the sink.

We’re not ones for extremist speculation, but let’s consider a hypothetical.

The Era Of Sinks Has Sunk!: That’s right, gone are the days of hand washing in airplanes. It’s outdated, unnecessary. Besides, it’s not like you need to wash your hands before the meal service.

And with oil cresting $140 per milliliter, it’s too expensive to haul all that weighty worthless water when airlines can instead turn hand washing into a money maker. Money maker, you ask? Sure! What if passengers use up the one glued-on bottle of hand sanitizer? What will you do then?! Buy a new personal-size bottle of sanitizer, clearly. $5 per bottle, available alongside snacks and headphones.

-OR-

This Particular Sink Was Broken: This option is boring and consequently wrong. This sink is obviously a flying harbinger of doom.
Plan accordingly.

Fear of Flying [NYT]
(Photo: Bryan Burkhart)

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