The next time you need a restroom at 35,000 feet, better hope you have some change in your pocket. Europe’s biggest budget airline, Ryanair, is considering charging passengers to use toilets on planes, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The idea was apparently floated by the airline’s CEO in a BBC interview. Michael O’Leary is quoted as saying the airline was thinking about, “maybe putting a coin slot on the bathroom door.” However, a Ryanair spokesman later said that, while the idea had been discussed internally, the airline had no immediate plans to install the coin slots on its planes.
Ryanair has always made a significant portion of its revenue from charging passengers fees for extra services, a model more U.S. airlines have emulated recently, during a time when fuel prices shot up and then passenger demand dropped.