Do pilots have their own toilets?

  • Jul 18, 2024
Do pilots have their own toilets?

Every passenger who has flown on a commercial airline has likely thought or asked themselves the question, do pilots use a private bathroom or do they use the same restroom as everyone else on the aircraft? Since pilots are essentially in a separate, enclosed compartment with relatively high-security measures regarding who can enter or even observe them, it is a valid question to ask. On that note, continue reading to know the answer.

The Short Answer

The short and sweet answer to the question is yes, pilots do indeed possess lavatories that are restricted only to them and not shared with flight attendants or passengers. However, not all planes have designated pilot restrooms or lavatories as seen in other parts of the plane. This depends on the type of aircraft and model of the aircraft that is used.

Standard knowledge suggests that in aircraft, the smaller the plane, the smaller the planes, and thus, there is usually no pilot’s toilet.

For example, in regional aircraft variants of the Bombardier CRJ100 or Embraer ERJ with about 50 seats, there is generally no pilot’s specific lavatory. The other areas include cockpit and cabins, which are not spacious enough to accommodate separate crew amenities. Thus, the flight deck crew of these aircraft has to use one or two fairly miniature lavatory stalls with the pilots and passengers and sometimes even the flight attendants.

When the pilot wants to use the only available bathroom, she has to leave the flight deck, move through the area that is visible to all passengers, and would have to wait in a queue if the bathroom is busy. For both considerations of convenience and privacy, most pilots also have a distaste for utilizing passenger amenities. But for flights that take 1-2 hours, they do not have a choice.

Midsize jets are designed to have a pilot restroom exclusively for the use of pilots.

It is possible to have all lavatories as passenger ones in B737 or Airbus A319 which are single-aisle aircraft with space for 150-170 passengers, however, in case with larger aircraft like B757 or A320, there is usually space for a pilot’s lavatory.

This private lavatory enables the pilots to attend to their needs and comfort without leaving the secure cockpit region during the long hours that these business jets cover. The facility of the lounge is typically quite small – some of them are so small that they can only accommodate pilots who have to back out while still seated. At least you don’t have to shower with 150 passengers like on many of the ocean cruise ships.

The largest wide-body aircraft offer pilots a full lavatory with enough room to maneuver around should they desire. This includes what is regarded as large cabin planes, hence we have the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and the double-decker Airbus A380. Their pilot restrooms, which are installed on these planes, have porcelain sinks, full-length mirrors, and even windows to make them look more like home bathrooms.

What Has Been Said About The Issue of Why A Separate Pilot Toilet Is Needed

As you may find out, you are curious as to why airlines spend so much money and time putting fixed lavatories simply for the pilots. Why not simply bring it to a point where everyone should use particular public toilets?

There are a few compelling reasons why dedicated pilot lavatories are necessary:

  1. Security – In the wake of the tragic event of 9/11, cockpit access was tightened by specific regulations stating that the door to the flight deck should be closed and locked at any time when the aircraft is flying. This implies that once one is seated in the cockpit, he or she has to have an onboard lavatory for the fact that he or she cannot get out of the cockpit to answer the call of nature every time it arises.

  2. As pilots are people employed to serve their vital roles in flying, they have no time to waste and cannot be distracted during the hard work of flying with and for hundreds of passengers safely. Lacking a bathroom when the need arises could be inconvenient; more so if the situation comes with the company of unsavory distractions.

  3. Privacy & Comfort – It is ridiculous to even type this, but pilots are professionals who are performing their job, a very important one at that, of flying very expensive airplanes with hundreds of human beings aboard often over vast distances and through very tough, sometimes hostile, conditions for hours on end. It then would not be appropriate to expect them to use a public lavatory that is given to passengers to provide conditions suitable for the best rest of human pilots and comfort.

    Are All Pilots on an Aircraft Cabin Having Their Lavatories?

    There is a comfort that most pilots of major airlines enjoy in flying with a private lavatory, but the pilots of regional airlines do not always have this privilege. Regional airlines have a relatively shorter route connection to primary airline carriers mostly utilizing less large planes for shorter flights such as the ones mentioned above and do not contain a dedicated pilot restroom.

    Small regional airline pilot associations have pressured carriers to add pilot restrooms to the tiniest planes in an attempt to enhance job quality. However, according to many regionals, the addition of lavatories would come at the cost of passenger seats which are in many cases essential for making money.

    And so, for pilots who fly for lesser regional airlines, unfortunately, it still means joining the aisle seat passenger’s deep suffering of a prayer that the flight attendants did not indulge in coffee before takeoff when, hello, the call of nature at 35,000 feet!!!!

    The Design of High-Altitude Toilets

    Designing and integrating restrooms into any aircraft cabin is a highly sophisticated technical process. All airplane bathrooms including the pilot lavatory are designed with specific features that can withstand high altitude and atmospheric pressure. Some unique elements include:

  • They blow fresh air from outside the cabin while simultaneously expelling foul smells from sewers and regulating cabin pressure. This helps to confine unpleasant smells literally within the bathroom rather than circulating them through the cabin.

  • More durable and robust plastic building materials for constructing walls, roofs, and other structures that can endure the pressure differentials of the air.

  • Instead of using white interior light to make the magical dim fairy-like fairy windows that contain bright outside lighting such as lightning strikes less shocking to users.

  • Radar sensors used on the aircraft do not allow the door to be opened or closed suddenly but do it gently to avoid the damaging effects of pressurization.

  • Changing tables in diapers that can support lots of weight in the event of turbulence.

  • However, it should be noted that this largely depends on the availability of emergency oxygen masks in the larger lavatories.

    However, vacuum-based toilet operations also have to create airtight pressure seals, withstand pressure variations, and transport waste without splashing and slamming sounds penetrating the cabin – all without any external water or sewer lines for refilling or disposal!

    Demanding Conditions for Pilots

    The pilot in command who is performing the duty of vigilance over complex modern-day jetliners for many consecutive hours is hard work that entails both the physical and mental strength of the pilot. The pilots might get sore from standing on their feet in a limited space inside the cockpit, but they are offered very few opportunities to move around and walk during long flights without another pilot.

    At least the private lavatory means they can get a moment devoid of the scrutiny from the rest of the passengers who are on a plane to splash water on their face, crack their back, rub their sore ankles, or any other need they may have in privacy within their long working days which is 11-14 hours.

    Of course, pilots stating their need for special private lavatory privileges has attracted some criticisms from some passenger rights groups as elitism that receive preferential treatment. However, most pilots argue that, while one had to open an enclosed secure door to go outside and run through hundreds of people, it does not explain why the cockpit doors are locked. And sustaining that awkwardness for 300 days in a year, suddenly becomes highly unreasonable, just to avoid perceptions.

    In Summary

    Thus, as to the question posed at the beginning of this article – yes, pilots do have their own, specially designed, locked restrooms that passengers cannot gain access to on midsize and more planes. However not everywhere on all levels of flights or for all companies since very often, owing to financial constraints, there may not be dedicated crew amenities. In those cases, pilots need to use the same facilities as the cabin crews and have to suffer as much as the passengers do.

    Thus envying pilots such well-rewarded jet-set careers as may be pictured in media, the relentless, long hours on duty and with almost no opportunity for personal, off-duty privacy mean that easy access to their toilet is desirable. Especially when nature beckons as one is engaged in one awkward position or another! As with everyone else, pilots understandably prefer not to unnecessarily endure humiliations as part of their job in ensuring a trouble-free ferrying of passengers through their various endeasters.