I recently had an uncomfortable experience on a flight and am wondering whether this is standard procedure or not.
During the flight, while the seatbelt sign was off, I went to use the lavatory. I had been inside for only a few minutes when I suddenly noticed the occupancy indicator change. Almost immediately afterward, the door was unlocked and swung open before I had any opportunity to respond or prevent it.
When the door opened, there was another female passenger standing outside along with a male flight attendant. The flight attendant looked in, apologized, and quickly closed the door.
After I finished and exited the lavatory, he apologized again but then suggested that I may not have locked the door. I told him that I definitely had locked it. At that point, a female flight attendant who had seen me enter the lavatory stepped in and confirmed that I had done everything correctly. She apologized as well and explained that she had tried to stop the situation, but it happened too quickly.
I was embarrassed and returned to my seat without pursuing the matter further onboard. Later, I contacted customer service seeking clarification about airline procedures regarding lavatory access. However, I have not received a clear explanation about when or why crew members are permitted to unlock an occupied lavatory.
What confuses me most is that there was no emergency, no verbal warning, no knock on the door, and no attempt to ask whether the lavatory was occupied before it was opened. I would have expected at least some form of confirmation before a flight attendant used the emergency unlock mechanism.
Has anyone experienced something similar, or does anyone know what the standard procedure is in situations like this?
0