Pay to Pee?

If you're not familiar with Ryan Air, let me acquaint you. There are an Irish owned regional airline that pioneered the pay-for-fee services that have swept all airlines. We can thank the owner, Michael O'Leary, for the start of charging for checked baggage, using your credit card, using a check-in desk, etc. The employees are also treated like second class citizens. If this company was based in the US, employees would not be treated so poorly.

Mr. O'Leary and company are now drawing fire because they want to charge a fee for using the toilet on the aircraft. He wants to charge one British pound-the US equivalent of $1.40-for the use. Some have called it, "toilet extortion". He was also quoted as saying that it would be quite unlikely that anyone would need to use the toilet and not have the money. I don't know about you, but if you've ever traveled with young children you can count on that scenario happening.

Mr. O'Leary we are glad you aren't here in the US. You would never be able to get away with that. Don't you also remember how the French came under fire for charging to use the public toilet? On our recent trip to Paris, they indeed had done away with it. Mr. O' Leary could use a lesson from others.