What Flight Attendants Know About Airplane Bathrooms That You Don't

It's probably safe to say that no one looks forward to using the bathroom on an airplane. Typically referred to as the lavatory (or lav), airplane bathrooms can be uncomfortable for a number of reasons, ranging from size to varying levels of cleanliness, and although some passengers may try to hold it on shorter flights in favor of using the restrooms in the airport, everyone knows that when you've got to go, you've got to go.

I've worked as a flight attendant for a major airline for nearly 10 years, and one of the first things I had to get over was attempting to avoid the lav. One of the biggest drawbacks to being a flight attendant is spending up to 18 hours a day on duty. We often don't get the opportunity to leave the plane in between flights, making the act of getting comfortable with the uncomfortable an immediate necessity.

As I've spent more time in airplane bathrooms than the average person ever will, I can speak to the top questions we get asked pretty frequently — yes, sometimes people try to join the Mile High Club in there, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. No, the waste is not released into the air. It travels through pipes into a tank that is drained once the plane is back on the ground. Yes, using the bathroom barefoot is one of the top things flight attendants hate to see, because, no, the liquid gathering on the ground is likely not water (it's probably urine). But one thing you probably don't know is that your time in the lavatory is not as private as you think it is. In fact, flight attendants can enter any time, even if you've locked the door, for one very important reason.

While it seems counterintuitive to be able to unlock a bathroom from the outside, there is a very good reason that airplane lavatories are equipped with this feature. It comes down to the first thing considered with airplane design, and this particular topic pertains to everything from seat layout to entertainment features — I'm talking about safety.

During my career as a flight attendant, I've made the choice to open a locked bathroom door on a customer dozens of times, and every one of those times was in the interest of safety — not just of that particular passenger, but sometimes the safety of everyone onboard the aircraft. The most common reason to unlock the door from the outside is to respond to a medical event or to check on someone who has become unresponsive. Another common occurrence is when a child locks themselves in, but can't figure out how to get back out.

When it comes to the safety of everyone onboard, flight attendants will not hesitate to let themselves into a lavatory if the smoke alarms have been activated, for obvious reasons — this indicates there may be fire, a dangerous occurrence that we're trained to deal with quickly. We're also trained to follow a particular protocol if we suspect a passenger has activated the alarms by illegally smoking or vaping, and that protocol may or may not involve entering the bathroom. While there, is in fact, a bad time to use the bathroom according to flight attendants, we're not going to open the door on you for interrupting our snack service. Rest assured, we're trained to intervene only should you or any of your fellow passengers need assistance, even if it's from behind a locked door.