I flew from KPIT to KORD on U.S. Airways Express and flew on a Embraer 170 and when I went into the bathroom the plane had a cigarette holder for when you do you business. Since the plane is Brazilian, do certain countries or airlines permit smoking on flights (Not in the US)? I also found it interesting that U.S Airways Express is Republic Airlines!!! Didn’t US buy out Republic? Do they say that for all the airlines US bought out that served in those regions the airlines had roots in?
Republic Airlines is a publicly traded company with no ownership relation to US Airways or the former Republic (acquired by NWA).
Ted, when saying cigarette holder, do you mean ashtray? If that is the case, all us airlines have to have those, and they must close properly.
Even though all flights are non-smoking, in the event someone lights up, there has to be a proper place to put it, the trash is not a good idea.
Maybe you knew this already and it is not what you are talking about.
ladi
It could of been there always, I never realized it though. It was a thing you flip down and put the cigarette into, but, it had a holder on it. It looked like you could actually set you cigarette down. But this isn’t worth getting into a debate about. This just shows you how many times I use the john on a plane.
Thanks for the correction on Republic with NWA. I knew something didn’t sound right with Republic being bought out by US.
Yep, it is an ashtray. The only reason I know this is 12 years as a commercial flight attendant. It was actually part of our preflight safety checks.
Believe it or not, if the hinge was broken or missing, or for any reason was not working properly, the lav would have to be closed, locked, have an inop sticker on it, and not allowed to be used, per FAA.
It is amazing at the small stuff like that that has to be MEL’d or written up as INOP.
ladi
Say what?
An ash tray is NOT a required item. In fact, some airlines are removing them because of the fact that all flights are non-smoking. A cigarette can be extinguished with water and placed in the trash with NO chance of the trash catching on fire.
Do you know for a fact though that if it is installed it may be inoperative?
Did some research - I was partially right. An ash tray is considered a passenger convenience items. However, an ash tray on the *exterior *door of the lavatory is required. Here’s the wording from the 747 MMEL (Master Minimum Equipment List):
Passenger convenience items, as expressed in this MMEL, are those Item(s) related to related to passenger convenience, comfort or entertainment such as, but not limited to, galley equipment, movie equipment, ash trays, stereo equipment, overhead reading lamps.
…
NOTE: Exterior lavatory door ashtrays are not considered passenger convenience items.
If an aircraft has more than one exterior lavatory door then it can fly with one ash tray missing for up to 10 days before being replaced; if it only has one exterior lavatory door it can only fly for three days before replacement is required.
FYI: MMEL’s can be found at opspecs.com/AFSDATA/MMELs/Final/transport/
All I know, is what I said, granted it has been over 3 years since I worked, but at that time, we had 1 ashetray on the outside door and one on the inside door. If the inside ashtray was broken or cover missing, maintenance placarded it (lav door) with an INOP sticker, and the lav door locked.
Dami, are you part of a flight crew for 121 carrier?
I was not trying to be debatable in any way, only helpful, you need to chill alittle.
ladi
See my reply above. I said I was a partially right -which also means partially wrong. I was basing my information on seat ash trays. However, I think the FAA is wrong in requiring ash trays on the exterior of the doors. If a person is going to smoke, he’s not going to reach around to the front of the door and put out his cigarette.
I do find it interesting that the original poster thought “I found it interesting” was a great subject line rather than something actually useful like “ashtrays on aircraft.” Just a pet peeve - silly me thinks that subject lines should actually be informative.
and here I thought the subject line was interesting, prompting me to click on it and read further.
on topic, I flew on a delta md88 from AUS to ATL and was surprised to find what looked like an ashtray in the armrest- looked like it even had ash residue in it.
What year did you fly the flight on Delta? Because I remember Continental having ash trays in the arm rests of the plane, of course that was in the early to mid 90s.
When flying American Airlines, I had Seat 3E (bulkhead aisle, First Class) and the seat-belt light was broken. The mechanics could not fix and I was prohibited from sitting in the seat because this. FAA regulations, I was told.
Interesting: How is this a malfunction that prohibits someone sitting in the seat, but a blind person can sit anywhere? I mean, the “bing” tone works and I can easily see the other seat-belt lights, as well as hear the cabin crew make the “the capatain turned on the seat-belt light” announcement, so what’s the deal about a broken light? A real head-scratcher. 