Plane toilets 'shrinking in size to make room for more seats'

Prepare for an even cosier flight experience with the introduction of smaller toilets on aircraft

Passengers may have to hold their breath when attempting to squeeze into the diminutive new lavatories (istock/Getty Images)

Aeroplane toilets are likely to shrink in size as airline operators try to squeeze more seats on-board than ever before.

Rising crude oil and labour costs were predicted to increase by 25 per cent this year alone. With the price of oil accounting for 24 per cent of airlines’ total operating expenditure, companies are looking at other ways to maximise profits.

In addition to shrinking seat sizes, the introduction of extra seats means squeezing more passengers onto increasingly cosy aircraft.

According to traveller.com.au, airline operators are ordering newer and more diminutive lavatories that leave room for an additional row of seats on-board.

American Airlines told investors last year that increasing seats on its aircraft would increase annual income by $500m per year. Similarly, JetBlue has predicted that adding 12 extra seats to its planes would result in an additional $100m per year.

While airlines maintain that there are mere centimetres differentiating the newer toilets from the older, more spacious models, passengers, staff and industry experts are starting to feel the pinch.

American Airline captain, Jimmy Walton, reportedly told the company’s president that the economy cabin on American’s Max 8 was “the most miserable experience in the world.”

He added: “You’ve added 12 more seats, no more lavatories and you’ve shrunk that lavatory to 75 per cent of what it was before.

“I can’t turn around in it.”

Another passenger described accompanying his four-year-old son to the toilet as “like a yoga exercise.”

Despite customer consternation, aviation consultant Gary Weissel maintains that the tiny toilets are here to stay.

“Even with passenger complaints on these lavs, I don’t see airlines pulling them out.

“The revenue generated from being able to get an additional row of seats in there is too great.”