Ryanair Charges for Bathrooms, Eliminates Check-In Counters

Ryanair just can't stay out of the news. The discount airline made headlines earlier this week when it publicly lambasted a blogger for pointing out a flaw in their website's design. While they were at it, they decided to lump all bloggers into a collective group, kindly referred to as "lunatics."

More negative publicity followed as the Irish airline announced that it was considering charging passengers to use the bathroom.

Ryanair could begin charging passengers to use the toilet. That's direct from the mouth of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, who made the comments this morning to BBC television. "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 actually have to spend a pound (about $1.43) to spend a penny in future."

Many industry experts have wondered if the move would backfire for Ryanair. According to British Aviation officials, there is currently no legislation mandating toilets be available on board aircraft, so if the airline does decide to include one, they can rightfully charge for its use.

Ryanair's most recent announcement concerns airport check-in counters. The discount carrier will eliminate all check-in counters by the end of 2009.

The Dublin-based discount carrier plans to get rid of its ticket counters, shifting some of those employees to staff drop-off stations for passengers' checked bags. Ryanair has released few details of exactly how the ticket counter elimination would work, but CEO Michael O'Leary told the Daily Telegraph that the airline ultimately wants only 20% of its passengers to check bags.

It's unclear yet how passengers would respond to the move. Thus far, no airline has ever eliminated 100% of its check-in counters. Although self-service has been a growing trend in many industries, especially air travel, many remain skeptical that Ryanair will be able to make it work.

Despite the numerous headlines and incredulous responses to pay-toilets, blog-hating and mandatory self check-in, no one should really be surprised. Ryanair has a history of taking a different approach than other airlines. For proof of Ryanair's independent-thinking, look no further than their Calendar of Scantily Clad Flight Attendants (hey, at least it was for charity).