The Captain's Blog ™

A little while ago I had the long overdue pleasure of travelling abroad on holiday, which involved a couple of flights on a plane.

Now, we all know and understand that the toilets on ‘planes are small and cramped – for the obvious reason that the smaller they are, the more seats they can fit on the aircraft.

But my recent travels led me to wonder why the washbasins in those toilets are of such a hugely impractical design.

I’m not complaining about the taps – it strikes me as perfectly reasonable that the taps should need to be held down manually in order to get the water to run. There’s only so much water they can carry and even a push down tap with a time delay would mean a lot of wasted water.

No, what bothers me – and, when I stop to think about it, has bothered me for as many years as I can remember – is that the washbasins are designed in such a way that you can’t actually get your free hand under the tap properly.

I don’t know about you, but I like to get my hands properly clean when I wash them. But once you’ve lathered up with soap, the task of rinsing it off in one of these flying toilets is far from an easy one.

In order to fully rinse it, you end up having to twist and contort your wrist and hand whilst trying to avoid rubbing it against the tap and the sides and bottom of the wash basin.

I’ve actually just sent a polite email to Boeing, asking what the rationale is for the current design. I’ve no great hope of receiving a reply, but you never know – maybe if enough people ask the question, someone might realise there’s scope for improvement.

In fact, purely from THEIR point of view, I’m willing to bet that a better positioned tap – with a differently shaped washbasin with no greater overall volume – would result in people using LESS water than they have to at present, not to mention less irritation and stress for the paying passenger.

I won’t take offence if my comments thus far have led you to conclude that I suffer from some form of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) - indeed, you may actually be correct.

Regardless, I’m sure I’m not the only person who has questioned the design of these mini-sinks and would prefer to see a little customer-friendly innovation. Am I?