PE - A Seperate Travel Class?

Originally posted by Stevieboy
I can understand Econ Pax using the toilets nearest PE on the A340's as there is nothing to say otherwise and from Roxy-Popsy's post they are entitled to.

However, on my very full return flight from Orlando (VS16)last year I was upstairs in PE. As day broke and everyone woke for breakfast there was the usual Queue for the toilets. To my amazement Econ Pax were walking up the stairs and joining the Queue to use the two bathrooms next to the Flight Deck.
As my breakfast was being served I mentioned this to the Cabin Crew in a very light hearted way by saying it's a good job I was not desperate to go! to which the reply was "It's easier for the Pax in the front part of Econ to come upstairs as they are not allowed to use the UC ones" [?]

Cannot remember how much the ticket was now but it was roughly double that of Econ. Which for a bit more space, seperate check-in and a glass of pre-flight Champagne seems a little much.

You could say VS are taking the "P" which was more that I was able to [:(]

From a security point of view this makes me feel very uneasy Ð surely the cabin crew need to keep a close eye on the passengers movements and by allowing them free will to come up and down the stairs on a 747 how can they do this? Most American airlines will not allow you leave your seat if the flight door has to be opened, they are often be seen blocking the isles with their carts.

[Neil]

Originally posted by Alan
From a security point of view this makes me feel very uneasy Ð surely the cabin crew need to keep a close eye on the passengers movements and by allowing them free will to come up and down the stairs on a 747 how can they do this? Most American airlines will not allow you leave your seat if the flight door has to be opened, they are often be seen blocking the isles with their carts.

Alan, I think that the CC must be instructing the Y pax to use the upstairs PE toilet in such cases, I find it hard to imagine a Y pax just randomly walking upstairs to use the toilet (although ISTBC). Also there are PE pax in the downstairs cabin on a 747 so they are ok to use the upstairs toilet. I personally don't see it as too much of a security risk with only a few pax using the upstairs toilet, its not as if there would be 10+ pax at a time doing this.

Neil:)

Originally posted by Attitude23

Originally posted by Alan
From a security point of view this makes me feel very uneasy Ð surely the cabin crew need to keep a close eye on the passengers movements and by allowing them free will to come up and down the stairs on a 747 how can they do this? Most American airlines will not allow you leave your seat if the flight door has to be opened, they are often be seen blocking the isles with their carts.

Alan, I think that the CC must be instructing the Y pax to use the upstairs PE toilet in such cases, I find it hard to imagine a Y pax just randomly walking upstairs to use the toilet (although ISTBC). Also there are PE pax in the downstairs cabin on a 747 so they are ok to use the upstairs toilet. I personally don't see it as too much of a security risk with only a few pax using the upstairs toilet, its not as if there would be 10+ pax at a time doing this.

Neil:)

To put my mind at rest could one of the crew tell me if this is the case. I know that there are a lot of security messures in place, some we know about some we don't. If passengers are queuing then the flight crew will see this on the CCTV so I know that they are unlikely to open the door. I do still feel uneasy that passengers could come upstairs unchallenged and would be interested to know what the crew feel. Surely, there must be policy in place otherwise junior crew (who are often the ones in economy) would will not necessarily have the confidence to say something off their own back, for fear of saying the wrong thing.

I can only guess [or hope] that we may see slightly tighter controls about passengers moving around between the different cabins as a result of the recent heightened security situation.

The thing that makes this difficult - particularly in Y - is that the big block of toilets is generally at the very back of the aircraft. Someone sitting towards the front of the Y cabin is always going to be tempted to use a toilet they can see a few rows ahead of them, even if it is not really intended for the use of their cabin.

Come to think of it, there is a magnetic stripe on the back of a boarding pass - put swipe access onto the toilet doors, so you can only access the toilets appropriate to your class of travel!