The NYT’s Christopher Elliot:
Unbelievable as it may sound, the only apparent law on the books that requires an aircraft to fly with a working restroom, the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, applies to planes with more than one aisle that were delivered or refurbished after April 1992. That’s a huge loophole, given the number of jets that are older or have just one aisle.
That’s why there aren’t any johns on those old single-aisled planes! Wait, that’s not right. They do have bathrooms. Even without a law. How did that happen? More from Eliot:
Plus, federal law seems to be mum when it comes to the all-important passenger-to-toilet ratio on a plane…. A functioning toilet is such a basic necessity that the law appears to take it for granted. Perhaps it shouldn’t.