Is He Joking? Hard To Tell...

When it comes to bare-bones, no-frills airlines, few carriers worldwide come as close to the bottom of the barrel as Irish ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair.

Long before such practices were in vogue with US airlines, Ryanair made it policy to charge passengers for any and all amenities... from charging customers to buy tickets online, to imposing fees for checking in at the ticket counter, and on all checked luggage.

While the carrier remains a popular choice in Europe, most passengers put up with Ryanair's policies through gritted teeth. Some may even sneer at what Ryanair could possibly do to make the travel experience even less enjoyable than it is now.

It appears we might soon have an answer to that query. On Friday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary -- no stranger to controversy, or the art of self-promotion -- suggested his airline may soon charge passengers to use the lav (er, loo) while inflight.

"One thing we have looked at in the past, and are looking at again, is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door, so that people might have to actually spend a pound to 'spend a penny' in future," O'Leary said, referring to an Irish euphemism for relieving oneself, reports The Associated Press.

As expected, O'Leary's announcement was met with widespread indignation from passengers -- and a lot of press coverage. "This begs a simple question retort of: Is there absolutely nothing that this airline won't do?" Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, asked rhetorically. "Not really, so if you are thinking about flying cattle-class Ryanair in future, beware."

Trouble is, no one could say for certain whether O'Leary was serious... as often, O'Leary has made outlandish proclamations to win free promotion. Even Ryanair chief spokesman Stephen McNamara expressed some doubt.

"Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and, while this has been discussed internally, there are no immediate plans to introduce it," McNamara said, before adding "Passengers using train and bus stations are already accustomed to paying to use the toilet, so why not on airplanes? Not everyone uses the toilet on board one of our flights, but those that do could help to reduce airfares for all passengers."

Tommy Broughan, transport spokesman for Ireland's Labour Party, believes O'Leary's comments should be taken seriously. He noted Ryanair recently made noise about the possibility of charging passengers for a second carry-on bag, regardless of size.

"When Ryanair introduced this euro30 extra duty-free charge, many passengers joked that next they would be charged for using the toilet -- not realizing that this indeed seems to be the newest extra charge on Ryanair's agenda," Broughan said.

Dublin resident Samantha Jones, who regularly flies the airline to commute to her job, put the announcement in perspective.

"Your only choice with Ryanair, really, is not to fly Ryanair. Your dignity goes out the window. If you have a complaint, they're not programmed to care," she said. "If you are given a choice between wetting your knickers or not wetting your knickers, you will pay whatever fee they make you pay, and Mr. O'Leary knows this well.

"Frankly, I'm surprised he's talking about letting us have a wee for a pound, not more!"

Give him time...

FMI: www.ryanair.com