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Interior amenities
A New York Times article from August 29, 2006 posed the question, "Will having a
lavatory on board be the key factor in short flight success?" A July, 2006 NBC
Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcast also discussed the issue of the
Eclipse 500's lack of a toilet. Passengers needing to relieve themselves on the
Eclipse 500 will be required to bring along a portable container. Eclipse
Aviation's CEO Vern Raburn suggests that most of his company's customers will be
using the VLJ for short flights from 300-500 miles in length in 40-80 minutes
and that the lavatory issue is not going to be a problem for VLJ customers.
Rick Adam, CEO of Adam Aviation, disagrees and says, "people are not going to
get on a plane without a bathroom, at least they are not going to do it more
than once". The Adam A700 has a 7 seater configuration with rear lavatory with a
privacy curtain. The Cessna Mustang also has an emergency toilet, but it is
located between the cockpit and cabin. The Embraer Phenom 100 offers a fully
enclosed lavatory with a solid door. These toilet-equipped planes are
considerably more expensive than the Eclipse, but they may be preferable for
owners, especially those planning on using their jet's full range. The new air
taxi service companies, which make up the bulk of the Eclipse orders, have done
surveys that show that having a toilet is not a concern for most of their
passengers. The CEO of DayJet says that even if his company outgrows the Eclipse
500 in the future, he will also have his company's larger planes configured
without a toilet.
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