[mschuster91]

That has the downside that a penny-pinching passenger might attempt to "hold it in" and then, shocked by a turbulence, involuntarily ejecting what was "held back"... leading to the plane needing an extra cleaning or being taken out of service.

There's a reason why even Ryanair, otherwise the leader in borderline unethical airline behavior, quietly buried their 2010 attempt to introduce a loo charge [1].

[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/mar/05/ryanair-toi...

[benbristow]

Another reason could be due to smokers. There's a reason toilets on airplanes still legally need to have an ashtray - there's still people who are willing to break the rules to have a fix so it's safer to at least provide somewhere safe to put a cigarette out.

Charging for the toilet could just encourage those same people to light-up in the main cabin.

[manarth]

Surely the premise for "smoking in the toilet" is the possibility of not getting caught (hence dedicated detectors in most airplane toilets).

Smoking in the main cabin would make them much more easier to identify, stop, and convict, no?

[benbristow]

True. Addiction works in mysterious ways though.

[bluGill]

I'm reasonably certain Ryanair was never serious about that. They like to make outrageous announcements anytime they think they are not getting enough attention for being the cheap airline.

[usrusr]

Can't beat a reductio ad Ryanair argument!

[dehrmann]

I disagree that they're unethical. The deal you get with Ryanair is the ticket is as cheap as possible, then they nickel and dime you. A lot of people want that. A lot of people want better service, and they can go with a legacy carrier.