Flight Attendant’s Simple Hack for Better Mid-Air Restroom Experience

Rich Henderson, an experienced flight attendant who runs the travel blog Two Guys on a Plane along with his husband, Andrew, shared with USA Today a simple travel hack that that will make your airplane bathroom experience much better.

Few, if any, travelers would number using an airplane lavatory amongst their favorite travel moments. But Henderson is determined to make it as pleasant an experience as possible, which is why he’s sounding the alarm for better bathroom etiquette at 30,000 feet.

Rich says the number one way to make airplane bathroom use more convenient for both passengers and crew is to wait in your seat rather than queue up in the narrow aisle. “That lining up makes it worse because everyone thinks there’s always going to be a line,” he explained. “I promise there will be a lull in the bathroom traffic. (Flight attendants) have to go as well. There’s usually a gap in there that we can jump in, so there should be one for passengers as well.”

Both Rich and Andrew agreed that if passengers simply waited patiently in their seats, it would cut down on mass bathroom rushes and therefore distribute the flow of lavatory traffic more evenly throughout the journey. Though lines of people in the aisle are annoying for all and can affect food and drink service, there are more serious reasons why restroom queues aren’t advisable.

“Post-9/11 there’s a lot of rules with people congregating on an airplane,” Andrew pointed out. Rich added: “For flight attendants, everything comes back to safety. It’s still not the safest to have tons of people up and about. Anything can happen in the blink of an eye on an airplane. I don’t think people realize it’s not quite safe to just be wandering around an airplane.”

Regardless of how you handle your next mid-air trip to the lavatory, both Rich and Andrew have a non-negotiable message for travelers: For the love of God, leave your shoes when you visit the restroom.