Well, this is a bit random, but it’s something that I think is worth discussing. I think it’s worth writing about because I find the situation and the answer interesting. For those who know me the word interesting is code for tune out for a few minutes. For those who came here for information on miles and points, perhaps you can come back tomorrow…
The Situation
The other evening I was flying from New York back to Chicago. I was in New York for work so I ended up booking a rather unique itinerary. Ultimately this itinerary had me flying out of Newark instead of LaGuardia or JFK. While this isn’t really an issue for me it is apparently an issue for those who fly with American often.
See, American has all but abandoned Newark airport. The American terminal is run down and it’s clear that Newark is not a priority for American Instead, American has focused its time and money on LaGuardia and JFK. The result is that one of the daily flights from Newark to Chicago is operated by Envoy Air on an Embraer 175. A flight that traditionally one would expect to be operated by American’s mainline fleet.
Personally I’m a big fan of the Embraer 175 as I love the 2-2 layout in economy and the 1-2 layout in first. I also love the aircraft because it features larger windows than the Boeing 737 or Airbus A321 offered in American’s mainline fleet. On my flight though it seemed that not all passengers echoed my love for the aircraft.
The man in front of me was traveling with the woman sitting next to me in first class on my flight home. Moments after takeoff the man visited the aircraft lavatory and returned to his seat a few minutes later. When he returned to his seat he spoke to the woman next to me and made an interesting comment. He commented that the aircraft that we were on must be old because it featured “ashtrays in the lavatory!”
The Embraer 175 Aircraft
It’s worth noting the man and women sitting near me in first class, like myself, had been upgraded thanks to their elite status. Clearly both of them have plenty of experience flying with American Airlines. It was also clear that both of them were unsatisfied with the aircraft utilized for our flight. However, I found it interesting that the man in front of me was so completely ignorant as to the type of plane we were on. The fact that he assumed this plane was more than 20 years old is laughable.
For starters the Embraer 175 has only been around since about 2005. Clearly right off the bat this man was utterly wrong as the EMB175 wasn’t even being produced back when the FAA allowed smoking on commercial aircraft.
As you can tell, I became so frustrated by this comment that I searched for our aircraft’s tail number. I ended up finding our planes tail number, N241NN, on FlightRadar24. Next, I went to the FlightAware registration page to find the aircraft’s delivery date. According to that page American took delivery of our particular aircraft in July of 2016! Based on that information it would appear our aircraft was not much more than two years old. When I found that out I felt so bad for our poor little aircraft who this man didn’t fully appreciate.
Why Do Modern Aircraft Still Have Ashtrays?
All joking aside, I think this raises a very interesting question. If this aircraft was in fact produced in 2016, then why does it have ashtrays? Well, the answer is far less interesting that I thought it would be when I sat down to write this.
The simple reason is this. Believe it or not each year several passengers end up smoking on flights. Several get away with it, but many more are caught. When a passengers is discovered the cabin crew must put out the lit cigarette and it’s technically not safe to do so anywhere inside the aircraft. That is, except for the designated ashtray! Likewise, the ashtray is there for passengers who aren’t discovered to put out their lit cigarette safely.
Final Thoughts
Welp, there you have it. I bet when you woke up today you didn’t think you were going to learn about why modern aircraft have ashtrays. I bet when you read the headline you thought, “oh, maybe for Asian markets!?” Sadly, as I mentioned, the answer is far less exciting. Essentially, modern airliners have ashtrays just in case the cabin crew or passengers need a place to put out a cigarette even though smoking has been banned for a few decades now.
Also, another key takeaway from this post is to never judge a plane by its ashtrays! I loved the little EMB175 that got me safely to Chicago and I can’t believe anyone would make fun of it for being old.
