A333 front PE toilets

There are and it's not many as I've operated with only the toilets on one side of the a/c operational before

Think this whole security thing is a curved ball, as Techandy points out, all seems to head back to local cc...and belief that given it's on a B&S route unlikely to get much repercussion from pax...

Will be very interested to get experiences of any MAN/LGW cc.. ?
Given the recent peak holiday traffic over the summer, shame a poll of if they were in use or not can't be set up..
I for one will be very pi55ed if they cordon off in few weeks time, and we receive some lame excuse about safety which quiet frankly sounds bobbins..!

Crew have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not to lock it off. Th only reason it will be out of use is if it is genuinely inop or if the captain insists on it.

Crew have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not to lock it off. Th only reason it will be out of use is if it is genuinely inop or if the captain insists on it.

Encouraging VB747, out of interest this does hint that cc had been closing off on selected flights...?

would you likely hear the repeated flushing and door closures from within the cockpit...? Just wondering if this is an incentive with some to throw in the H&S card as a way of removing troublesome background clunking and flushing...

I for one will be very pi55ed if they cordon off in few weeks time,

No pun intended of course, NH ):

I for one will be very pi55ed if they cordon off in few weeks time, and we receive some lame excuse about safety which quiet frankly sounds bobbins..!

You could always pull a "Gerard Depardieu" LOL

You could always pull a "Gerard Depardieu" LOL

I will brief mini NH before hand.....
As it is her where I see this being the most frustrating issue !

Crew have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not to lock it off. Th only reason it will be out of use is if it is genuinely inop or if the captain insists on it.

No... The front toilet has never been locked off so cabin crew could take breaks without interruption etc. My understanding is it has always been at the direction of the flight crew.

As Virgnboy747 says - Virgin say it should be open and used for the public to use. HOWEVER it can still be inop OR the captain may ask for it to be locked off.

Went this route last week and had the exact same problem with the front toilet.

On the way out the crew pulled the curtain across after take off. I decided to give it a go when the queue to the other toilet was backing up with economy passengers. The crew were polite when I asked to use it but gave me a look which told me they didn't want me to use it. I was the only passenger for the whole flight that used it.

On the return I had no issues at all. They did pull the curtain while they were busy which I think is fair given that you have to walk through the galley to get to the toilet.

Generally though it's a very odd design to put the toilet where it is.

Went this route last week and had the exact same problem with the front toilet.

On the way out the crew pulled the curtain across after take off. I decided to give it a go when the queue to the other toilet was backing up with economy passengers. The crew were polite when I asked to use it but gave me a look which told me they didn't want me to use it. I was the only passenger for the whole flight that used it.

On the return I had no issues at all....

So the CC are putting the facility out of general use, just in a manner that isn't too obvious to create an uproar....(I.e not formally shutting off, just hiding it behind a curtain..!)

Not knowing the layout, are you really saying that you absolutely have to wakl through a galley to access that bathroom? Or is that only from one of the isles?

Not knowing the layout, are you really saying that you absolutely have to wakl through a galley to access that bathroom? Or is that only from one of the isles?

It's only from the right hand side, check out my link I put up recently for the China Airlines seating plan and you'll see an intended dedicated toilet for the right hand side, once UCS is installed this should be more than enough.

Went this route last week and had the exact same problem with the front toilet.

On the way out the crew pulled the curtain across after take off. I decided to give it a go when the queue to the other toilet was backing up with economy passengers. The crew were polite when I asked to use it but gave me a look which told me they didn't want me to use it. I was the only passenger for the whole flight that used it.

On the return I had no issues at all....

So the CC are putting the facility out of general use, just in a manner that isn't too obvious to create an uproar....(I.e not formally shutting off, just hiding it behind a curtain..!)

But the facility is still being 'put out of use' v( . Come on VS, let's have a policy line on this one so that we can put the topic to bed (after we've all used the toilet of course )

Went this route last week and had the exact same problem with the front toilet.

It sounds as though you were able to use it on both flights.

I feel a bit sorry for the crew -- if they don't shut the curtain then they will doubtless be criticised for noise and light pollution on night flights. If they shut the curtain they block off the toilet...

Yes you could use it on both flights, but on the outbound flight you were very much discouraged from doing so. I was challenged when I went to use it and when I asked if could, there was a pause followed by a 'yes, well, it should be ok' type of response.

I was travelling with two other people and one of them didn't even notice that it existed and the other was too afraid to ask. They did a very good job of hiding it!

***Update***

Just spoken to the passengers concerned in my original post. After 3 weeks of waiting they received an Email from VS stating they were unaware of the toilets being out of use and suggested a technical problem v( . The passengers (my neighbours) have written back explaining that this was not a one off and suggested they read sites like this and the Dibb where this issue has been raised. Since then they have received another email saying that the original complaint has been "sent to management for investigation" so we are still none the wiser ?|

-Steve

Pre TR, yesterday's man-mco:
They were made available in a vague way... Pax tentatively creeping past the curtain who weren't overly sure where they where going seemed to get directed out to the rear ones....
Those who knew it was there were able to pull back the curtain and use it...although polite you were made to feel you were invading a staff room...
I was told on one visit I could use the ones at the rear if I wanted, but I said no thanks want to use these.......

You know, I almost get the feeling that it's the CC who would prefer it if they weren't used in the most part, and the "captain says so" is just a nice get out...

I guess if the toilet is in that close a proximity to the galley and where the CC would rest, then you can kind of see their point - it just looks like bad cabin design.

None of that, though, is the fare paying passenger's fault...

Still no "official" statement from VS?

Sounds like the instruction given to crew earlier in this thread is not being applied by some ...

In my opinion, 100% a crew issue. I do not think they want pax to be in the way, when they are bringing out food and drink etc. On my flight there in June, I was told I could use the toilet, but only after the food service was complete

Looks like another complete VS screw up, forcing an aircraft into service that isnt ready for the job.

Why on earth they didn't just wait and take on the 748 (when it finally came into service) with new cabins I just dont know, at least they would have been able to take an UC cabin from the outset.

God help us when VS eventually receive the 380's (if ever)

Looks like another complete VS screw up, forcing an aircraft into service that isnt ready for the job.

Why on earth they didn't just wait and take on the 748 (when it finally came into service) with new cabins I just dont know, at least they would have been able to take an UC cabin from the outset.

God help us when VS eventually receive the 380's (if ever)

I think you'll find the root cause here is Boeing and their inability to deliver the 787 within 3 years of forecast. The rumour mill says the new UCS was designed for the 787, the 330s being ordered fast to fill the yawning gap. Also blame certification authorities perhaps for their speed (or lack of).

Looks like another complete VS screw up, forcing an aircraft into service that isnt ready for the job.

Apart from the toilet issues - which appears to be a problem due to crew action rather than a faulty plane - it seems that most pax who have flown on the A330 are happy with the new planes and especially with the IFE.

): Wonder if greg@vs would like to comment on this issue too?

I was talking to a crew member on VS40 and she told me how much they dislike the new A330s because they don't have Crew Rests. Maybe the crew close the curtains to use that as a rest time?