What happened on the plane flying to Turkey?
Did the toilets breaking down cause serious problems? How did the plane continue the flight? Did the passengers get any compensation for the inconvenience?
4 answers
★ Best answer
Once I had two lavatories go out on a flight to Antalya at the same time. Honestly, there wasn't much panic - the flight attendants calmly announced that the other stalls were working and the ground crew would sort it out. The plane kept flying without issues because there are usually several, and one or two broken ones aren't critical. Yeah, there was a queue, but nothing terrible.
Really, it's only serious if all or almost all of them go out, which is rare. If at least a couple are working, the flight continues normally. The crew just closes off the broken ones and informs passengers. Maybe the queue gets a little longer, but people manage. Airlines usually don't compensate for this - it's not a flight delay or cancellation, just a technical thing.
As for compensation - if it affected your comfort during the flight, you can file a complaint with the airline with details. Some companies will meet you halfway with a voucher or miles, but it's not guaranteed. Mostly airlines treat lavatory breakdowns as technical issues that don't require passenger compensation. The main thing is the flight went smoothly.
Actually, it's not really that critical of a failure - planes fly with broken toilets all the time, the main thing is that at least one or two are working :) The problem is that without a normal number of stalls, a long flight becomes really uncomfortable, especially if there are a lot of passengers on board. As for compensation - airlines usually don't rush to pay for these kinds of everyday inconveniences if the plane lands on time anyway, but some passengers did file complaints and occasionally got vouchers for their next flight.
I saw a similar situation on a flight to Istanbul - one toilet broke down, then a second one. The plane made it to its destination just fine, because even when several lavatories malfunction, there are spares on board, and the flight doesn't get interrupted. The flight attendants just asked everyone to be more careful and not create lines, but I didn't notice any real complaints - people understand that equipment sometimes acts up. There was no compensation because toilets were working during the flight, just not all of them.
Was it a recent flight or a while ago?
Overall, broken toilets are unpleasant, but not critical if there are working ones left on board. Planes are designed with a margin - usually there are several cubicles, and one or two broken ones won't cancel the flight. Flight attendants just announce it, passengers adapt and use the remaining ones. The main thing is that people know about the problem beforehand.
As for compensation - there usually isn't any. It's considered a technical inconvenience, not grounds for a refund or vouchers. Maybe the airline can offer free drinks to calm people down. On short flights, most people don't even notice, but on long flights the malfunction is definitely more noticeable.
Максим asker
This happened in July this year, the flight was about five hours. Thanks for the detailed answer, it's good to know that this wasn't such a critical situation after all.
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