Inside an aeroplane toilet to show how small they are.

Stressed & Embarrassed by Taking A Pee With The Door Open & Staff Loitering!

The Degradation Of Peeing With The Door Open & Staff Loitering! – Is this something you would tolerate flying on your hols? I guess not but that is exactly what disabled people are expected to do! That is what I had to do! Oh, and that is IF you can use the toilet in the first place!

Airline Failures

Flying & disability are not two words airlines want to put together!

I’m due to travel to Las Vegas later in the year and one of my big fears among many is what if I can’t use the toilet!  My flight is 11 hours long, I can’t hold myself all that time!  I shouldn’t be expected to either but that’s exactly what airlines are expecting us to do. Anyone who has flown will know just how small the toilets are on an aeroplane. How on earth is any wheelchair user expected to use one is beyond me. More importantly, why are airlines still getting away with this blatant discrimination??

While going through my Twitter, I came across another lady who is also flying in the near future and was asking if anyone knew how she could find the dimensions of the toilet on the type of plane she will be flying on.  This made me realise I wasn’t the only one needing this kind of info. So, I took this opportunity to find out how one would go about searching the dimensions of an aeroplane’s toilet.

I got in touch with BA who couldn’t help, I contacted other airlines but no luck there either. I even contacted several companies including Boeing themselves who I might add never responded.

It Turns out, airlines don’t actually hold this information. I’m left hoping that a nice member of the cabin crew will take the dimensions and pass them on.  So far, trying to research this information has been practically impossible.

Stressed & Embarrassed by Taking A Pee With The Door Open & Staff Loitering! - Aeroplane with an image of what a standard toilet looks like inside the plane.

Availability

Why is this type of information so hard to source? Why can’t airlines have this info available from their accessibility team? Because they don’t want disabled people flying! That’s why! The way airlines treat disabled customers and their wheelchairs/aids are beyond incompetent and disgusting!!

  • This information should be readily available.
  • it should NOT be this difficult to obtain this kind of information directly from the airlines.
  • Information of this nature should be available from their accessibility team.

Now we all understand the business concept of making money but when you are clearly making changes that exclude sections of society because of said business concept, surely this can be deemed as discrimination?  So why, are these airlines allowed to not only continue this behaviour but actually make the situation worse? 

Airlines are doing all they can to discourage disabled people from flying!!!  Oh and it’s not just disabled people, large people also are affected.  People who may need 2 seats instead of 1, (we know how small the seats are too) who also wouldn’t be able to use small toilets.  So why is there not more public outrage??  I’m truly baffled!!

Discrimination

As I’m typing up this blog, the lady on Twitter has just got back to me saying she went into the airport and spoke with the airline in person and got the information she needed.  Why should she have to do that?  Couldn’t the airline have given her the info over email/telephone when she/I first asked? An able-bodied flyer wouldn’t have had to do this!!

Equality Act 2010 Says
Equality Act 2010 logo

What is discrimination arising from disability? (new)

Discrimination arising from disability occurs when a disabled person is treated unfavourably because of something connected with their disability and the unfavourable treatment cannot be justified.

Discrimination arising from disability is different from direct discrimination. Direct discrimination occurs when a service provider treats someone less favourably because of the disability itself. In the case of discrimination arising from disability, the question is whether the disabled person has in practice been treated unfavourably because of something connected with their disability.” Source: Equality Act 2010

So what should have been a simple task, cost that lady time, energy, petrol/travel expenses and frustration! Being disabled is a full-time job, believe me! Disabled people are faced with tasks of this nature DAILY and several times a day. (No wonder I’m always bloody tired!)

The most frustrating aspect of this is, that the majority of the research we have to do is unnecessary. If companies were more inclusive, we wouldn’t have to fight for basic information!

Links

Boeing

Equality Act 2010

If you would like to work with me don’t hesitate to Contact Me.  Feel free to leave a comment below.