Rumor has it they're going to install numbering machines like in the supermarket. Al ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Hough" <psa188@xxxxxxxx> To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 8:45 AM Subject: SF Gate: Australia's Qantas says toilet queues banned on flights to US ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/01/07/inte rnational0612EST0489.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, January 7, 2004 (AP) Australia's Qantas says toilet queues banned on flights to US JAMIE TARABAY, Associated Press Writer (01-07) 03:12 PST SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Australia's Qantas Airways said Wednesday that U.S. authorities are now banning passengers from gathering near restrooms and other places on flights to America -- an order the Australian government thinks might be impractical. Commercial flights across the Pacific Ocean from Australia to the United States' west coast are among the world's longest. "The U.S. Transport Security Administration are now requiring that passengers on flights to the U.S. are not to congregate in groups in any areas of the aircraft, especially around the lavatories," a Qantas spokeswoman said. Australia's Transport Minister John Anderson, who is also deputy prime minister, described the ban as "a little bit hard to handle." Qantas said passengers were being told about the new rules. "Qantas pilots are making pre-flight announcements to this effect and cabin crew are monitoring passengers during the flight. We do not expect this to be a significant issue at all, and it only applies to flights to the United States," the airline said in a statement released Wednesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Qantas official would not disclose whether the airline had received the directive straight from the U.S. Transport Security Administration or from Australian aviation authorities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP