I rescued a lady who was stuck in the lavatory…the poor thing could not figure out how to open the door of the mid-cabin restroom on a United Airlines A321neo.
Lady Gets Stuck In A321neo Lavatory, Nobody Hears Her But Me…
United’s new A321neo planes are swanky, but the lavatory doors are a bit tricky.
During the bustle of boarding, an older woman seated in row 7 rose up to use the lavatory (I was seated two rows behind). She was in there for a while and all of a sudden, I heard a soft tapping against the door.
It caught my attention, but I did not immediately do anything. The tapping continued, though, and then the flight attendant call light inside the lavatory was pressed (which illuminates a light outside the restroom).
A flight attendant passed by and did not notice, nor did the folks sitting adjacent to the lavatory.
So as the tapping continued, I rose up, walked up to the lavatory, and opened the door.
The woman, clearly a little jarred, asked incredulously, “Did you hear me from all the way back there?!”
Yes…
I’m not a hero like my wife, but the woman certainly treated me like one…showering me with praise and thanks for “saving” her.
But it bothered her that she just did not push the door in the right place. Her traveling companion, another older woman, encouraged her to try it again…which she did…and got stuck again!
This time, her companion was on the other side of the door and opened it for her. Even as boarding continued, the woman “practiced” until she knew how to open the lavatory door from the inside.
Hilariously, then her friend went inside and could not open the door herself…
“Push it hard, Jenny! On the side by the sink!”
Jenny finally got it too…
CONCLUSION
The Airbus lavatory doors can be a bit tricky and the small mid-cabin lavatory on United’s A321neo creates a difficult situation for those who don’t know where to push. On the other hand, just push where it says to push…it’s not exactly easy, but also not rocket science!
> Read More: Medical Emergency On United Flight: My Wife, An ICU Nurse, Answered The Call
Every lavatory door in economy is different on this plane. That one folds, one of the aft lavs has a long door handle, and the other one is hidden behind a jumpseat with the tiniest round doorknob to open. I can’t even blame people for missing it and using the big red jumpseat latch to try to open the door
Cute story and yes you were their hero of the moment. At least you noticed something was amiss!
Very observant UA F/A !
I agree that it isn’t super complicated, but it is hard to understand why, after fifty years of aircraft lavatory doors being basically identical, manufacturers decided to experiment with new mechanisms. I’ve seen a steady stream of people having at least some level of difficulty with them.