By Shawn Gallagher
“Smoking is strictly prohibited on this aircraft.”
We hear this all the time whenever we fly today. It’s common knowledge that smoking is not allowed during a flight. The no smoking signs are everywhere and announcements are made all the time. This has been the case for over 30 years.
However, there’s something that you might notice that seems counterintuitive. Even today in 2024, all airplanes still have ashtrays in the bathrooms.
Even new planes manufactured in recent years have them. This picture below was from a recent flight of mine on a 6 year old Airbus A350-900. Why is this the case?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires ashtrays to be equipped on airplanes for one simple reason. In the case that someone does end up smoking on a flight, there needs to be a safe and obvious place to dispose of the cigarette.
Although it’s common knowledge for most of us that planes are non-smoking, there may still be an event where a passenger begins smoking, whether they are uninformed or not. The goal here is to be prepared for such an incident. This is why we still see ashtrays on airplanes today.
All photos taken by the author.