Why do Modern Airliners Continue to Have Ashtrays?

Stepping into a modern airliner lavatory is an experience of contrasts; you will notice the 'No Smoking' sign alongside an ashtray. If caught smoking, you can be fined thousands and even face arrest. In this context, the presence of an ashtray seems out of place. Why are aircraft designers still installing them, even though smoking on airlines has been banned worldwide for decades? 

The continued presence of the ashtrays in aircraft lavatories is not a design whim or an oversight. It is a necessity due to regulations. FAA rules mandate that a self-contained, removable ashtray must be present in the lavatory, regardless of whether smoking is permitted. 

Although laws banning smoking onboard aircraft exist in most countries, aviation safety accounts for the possibility of human error. Someone may ignore the rules and light a cigarette anyway. 

If that happens, the regulation ensures there is a designated place to extinguish a cigarette safely. Without it, the smoker might flick the butt into a bin filled with paper waste, an act that has historically led to catastrophic consequences. 

The seriousness of this rule can be understood by the fact that if an ashtray is missing or damaged, it can delay or even ground a flight. It is listed by both the FAA and EASA, and subsequently appears on all airlines’ Minimum Equipment Lists (MELs), which are checklists of required items for dispatch. 

Until the 1990s, smoking was common during air travel. Some airlines even had designated smoking sections and provided complimentary cigarettes. Pilots also used to smoke in the cockpit. That era is long gone, and pilots can now be dismissed if found using a cigarette or vape. 

One of the most notorious incidents involving a cigarette-related catastrophe onboard was the 1973 Varig Flight disaster. VARIG’s Boeing 707 was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when a cabin fire broke out after a cigarette was thrown into a lavatory waste bin. Smoke quickly filled the cabin. The pilots made an emergency landing near Orly Airport, but 123 of the 134 people onboard died, many from smoke inhalation. Investigators concluded the fire likely started from a discarded cigarette butt. 

Such incidents were pivotal in shaping the regulations that banned smoking on airliners and introduced heavy fines and even jail time for offenders.