Check out the article:
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is asking its passengers to go to the toilet before boarding so it can reduce aircraft weight.
The unusual request is part of an experiment by the airline to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Japan’s NHK television is reporting that ANA began the one-month experiment today on 42 international and domestic flights.
The airline will place staff near boarding gates to ask passengers waiting for flights to go and use the restroom.
I wonder whether this applies to first and business class passengers as well. 😉
(Tip of the hat to Flying With Fish)
When you get to be my age, you pee several times before you get on the plane, then several times on the plane, then as soon as you get off the plane. ANA would not be happy with me.
Now that I think about this again, I remembered a story I meant to tell from my trip a couple of weeks ago. I was flying from Tampa to Washington and then Washington to San Diego. Tampa to Washington was in first class, and for some reason the flight attendants assumed I was a non-rev employee, so as we're taxiing out they give me a 35 oz. bottle of water to keep. I'm always happy...
Now that I think about this again, I remembered a story I meant to tell from my trip a couple of weeks ago. I was flying from Tampa to Washington and then Washington to San Diego. Tampa to Washington was in first class, and for some reason the flight attendants assumed I was a non-rev employee, so as we're taxiing out they give me a 35 oz. bottle of water to keep. I'm always happy about that, since I like to stay hydrated when I fly. I put it in my bag and figured I'd save it for my Washington to San Diego flight.
I board Washington to San Diego and sit down in 6D on an A319. I take the bottle of water out of my bag, and out of complete boredom drink the whole thing during the boarding process. HUGE mistake. We have a rather long taxi out, but I'm still fine. I figure at worst the seatbelt sign will be off in about 20 minutes at which point I would use the lav. Of course with my luck this happened to be one of the bumpiest climb outs of my life, and also the first 30 minutes at cruise level were bumpy. I decided to obey the seatbelt sign (because it really was bumpy), but it was one of the more unpleasant hours of my life....
So the moral of the story is that I don't think ANA would approve and DON'T drink water just because you're bored. :)
Hilarious. I am flying ANA next month. I am giddy anticipating the chuckle I'll have when they announce this at SFO.
Don't forget: less pee, less flushing, less water in the tanks.
And fewer people climbing over others, cleaner lavs, ...
:)
Hold the phone....EVERYONE poops!? My calculations, they're all wrong!
On a more serious note, what if the airlines created a weight offsetting market similar to carbon offsetting? Lighter passengers could sell their "weight credits" to heavier passengers via the airline as middle man. It would lead to some pretty interesting last-minute weight cutting a-la high school wrestling.
100 pounds might be significant, over time. American Airlines removed the extra magazines from their airplanes years ago - which, probably saved much less than 100 pounds per flight, but was said to coalesce into good savings.
@gluedtothewindow - it would be along the same lines as AAmerican AAirlines and removing the olive from the salad - which I'm sure reduced less total weight per PAX than getting half the pax to pee. Also, EVERYBODY POOPS there's a book about it :)
American based airlines could have a different spin on this. They could ask everyone to use the restroom, and if you do, weigh you on your way in and on...
@gluedtothewindow - it would be along the same lines as AAmerican AAirlines and removing the olive from the salad - which I'm sure reduced less total weight per PAX than getting half the pax to pee. Also, EVERYBODY POOPS there's a book about it :)
American based airlines could have a different spin on this. They could ask everyone to use the restroom, and if you do, weigh you on your way in and on your way out. If the amount of weight saved hits a high enough number then they don't charge you a "bladder weight fee". It's just unbundling. US Scare will probably be the first to try this.
Oops, miscalculation there. If 100 pee that's 45,000 ml, not 4500. So, they end up shaving off 100 lbs instead of 10. Still though, at 800,000+ lbs takeoff weight, what's an extra 100 lbs?
Okay, let's do the math. The bladder of an average person can hold roughly 450 ml of urine. For the sake of simplicity let's say nobody poops. 287 people on a fully loaded long haul 747. If 100 of them pee, that's 4500 ml or 1.19 gallons. WikiAnswers* says a gallon of urine weighs about 8.471 lbs. So, by asking people to pee ahead of time, in this scenario ANA shaves a whopping 10 lbs...
Okay, let's do the math. The bladder of an average person can hold roughly 450 ml of urine. For the sake of simplicity let's say nobody poops. 287 people on a fully loaded long haul 747. If 100 of them pee, that's 4500 ml or 1.19 gallons. WikiAnswers* says a gallon of urine weighs about 8.471 lbs. So, by asking people to pee ahead of time, in this scenario ANA shaves a whopping 10 lbs off takeoff weight. Sounds like a publicity stunt to me.
* http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_one_gallon_of_urine_weigh
*the Japanese.
And, moreover, I absolutely *love* that Japanese precisely because they are so wonderfully, wonderfully bizarre - in a tremendously rich, fascinating, and endearing fashion that makes Tokyo perhaps my favorite city in the world (besides San Francisco).
What an amazing country.
And, I do agree with Oliver - in the much larger context, as well. I love confronting differences while traveling. That's what makes the experience so valuable - and what makes me...
And, moreover, I absolutely *love* that Japanese precisely because they are so wonderfully, wonderfully bizarre - in a tremendously rich, fascinating, and endearing fashion that makes Tokyo perhaps my favorite city in the world (besides San Francisco).
What an amazing country.
And, I do agree with Oliver - in the much larger context, as well. I love confronting differences while traveling. That's what makes the experience so valuable - and what makes me miss places while I am at home, in familiar environs.
@boxo -- whoa, you think your country (whatever it is) isn't weird?
I *love* traveling precisely because I get to see new and 'weird' things.
I'll probably offend someone, but the Japanese can be so freakin' weird. One of the main reasons I have no desire to visit Japan. In theory, I guess it *could* save fuel and reduce emissions, but to have gate area potty monitors? ::rolleyes::