If you’ve ever noticed an ashtray in an airplane bathroom and wondered why it’s still there despite the no smoking signs lighting up all around you – you’re not alone.
Even though smoking has been banned on all US flights for more than two decades since 2000, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) still requires ashtrays to be present near airplane lavatories.
The reason? Some passengers still just can’t resist lighting up at 35,000 feet.
The FAA says people still try to smoke onboard and airlines need a safe way for them to take the light out.
‘The installation of an ashtray on or near the lavatory door will ensure that uninformed persons who find themselves with lighted smoking materials on the airplane will have an obvious location to dispose of smoking materials before entering the lavatory,’ the FAA explains.
The FAA believe it’s better to have a designated place to extinguish a cigarette than risk a smoker tossing it into a trash bin full of paper towels and flammable waste.
A European flight attendant, who previously worked for a major US airline, told Marketplace she has personally caught multiple passengers trying to sneak a smoke mid-flight.
‘What people don’t understand is that a fire on board is one of the most scary things to have,’ she told the outlet.
The FAA believe it’s better to have a designated place to extinguish a cigarette than risk a smoker tossing it into a trash bin full of paper towels and flammable waste. Pictured: a golden ashtray in a first class cabin
The FAA says people still try to smoke onboard and airlines need a safe way for them to take the light out
The FAA regularly investigates ‘unruly passenger’ reports and lighting up on the flight is included.
In 2021, the FAA proposed a whopping $16,700 fine against one Allegiant Air passenger who was caught smoking in the bathroom.
Although the FAA itself can’t press criminal charges, it can refer extreme cases to the FBI.
The agency also can impose civil penalties of up to $37,000 per violation.
Also in 2021, a woman on a Spirit Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale was walked off by police after lighting up a cigarette on the tarmac, drawing scorn from fellow passengers.
The unnamed woman pulled out a cigarette after the plane took more than an hour to make its way to the terminal after it arrived at the Florida airport from Detroit. It is not clear why it took that long to taxi.
Alexa Majdalawi, 31, who was sitting behind her and has asthma, told Fox News at the time: ‘She literally took out a cigarette and just started smoking.’
Majdalawi said the woman ‘turned around’ and blew it in her face.
And just this April, a brazen business-class passenger was caught on camera vaping on a flight – with footage showing the premium flyer sneakily tucking the device beneath a cushion between each inhale.
The agency can impose civil penalties of up to $37,000 per violation
The incident, which involved a male passenger seated in executive class, took place on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Medan, Indonesia, on March 27.
A shocking clip shows the passenger, who had been filmed by a fellow flyer, subtly lifting the e-cigarettes to his lips from under a red cushion placed on his lap.
A former flight attendant who worked on planes in the 1970s previously revealed to Daily Mail that the cigarette smoke on planes used to be so thick her makeup would drip down her face.
Mary Mckenna recalled her memories of working on American Airlines from 1976 to 2010.
While her career had many highlights, the now-outlawed act of smoking during flights posed various concerns for her.
She recalled: ‘The smoke was so intense on the plane that my eye makeup would be dripping down my face, I couldn’t breathe.’
Mary also explained that she would have to take extra caution to watch out for passengers falling asleep with lit cigarettes in their hands due to the fire risk.
