The Boeing 787 is known for its dimmable windows, rather than traditional window shades. There are a variety of reasons I don’t like these, like the crew being able to control them, the dimmers not fully blocking out light, and more. Well, here’s yet another reason not to like these, as flagged by PYOK.
In this post:
Dreamliner window dimmers malfunction on long haul flight
A traveler has posted to the British Airways Complaints Advice Facebook group (which… that’s interesting in its own right) to share a recent unpleasant experience on one of British Airways’ longest flights, from Tokyo (HND) to London (LHR).
The person was traveling with his girlfriend in premium economy, and writes the following:
The automatic window dimmers on our side of the cabin were not functioning correctly, leaving us exposed to bright daylight for much of the flight. What made this issue even more concerning was that half of the cabin had fully functioning windows. Cabin crew tried to get a fix from engineers on the ground but the best fix involved using a paper tray liner and tape to cover the windows, which had to be re-applied multiple times with the help of the cabin crew and even another passenger. Had to use the emergency procedure card to try and block the light more effectively.
Just didn’t feel very premium at all – do you think I could at least get something back, had been saving this companion voucher for a special occasion and kinda feels wasted.
The traveler should get something for the inconvenience
It’s funny, because the premise of the post is asking if they can get anything from British Airways for the inconvenience. It seems reasonable that if the person wrote in to British Airways, they’ll get some number of Avios or some voucher for the inconvenience.
This is just about the worst possible flight where something like this could happen — it’s one of British Airways’ longest, and it’s a daytime flight the entire way. On the plus side, kudos to the crew for their creative solution, and for apparently being helpful throughout the flight.
You’d think that the airline would’ve proactively offered compensation to passengers for this, because it greatly impacted the flight. Then again, I guess we’re talking about British Airways, so we shouldn’t be too surprised about the lack of proactive customer service.
I guess there are Facebook groups for everything, but it’s just kind of funny to me how there’s a Facebook group specifically for people to get advice about complaining to British Airways. Even stranger, if you ask me, is the number of people who post in this group as British Airways apologists, just telling people that they should be happy the flight was safe, and they should move on. Ah, the joys of the internet…
Bottom line
The window dimmers glitched on a British Airways Boeing 787 flight. Worst of all, it was one of the carrier’s longest flights, with daylight the whole way. On the plus side, the ground staff and crew deserve credit for trying to come up with as good of a solution as possible, by taping pieces of paper and safety cards to the windows, to block out as much light as possible.
What do you make of this window dimmer glitch incident?
A small stack of self adhesive window-sized stickers designed for blacking out light would be the most effective solution. As the Dreamliners age (anything mechanical on any plane, really) failures are inevitably going to become more common. Maybe something the airlines should consider investing in.
You paid them for carriage from Tokyo to London and they got you there in one piece. Let it go.
That's why I prefer the old shades because you know it will work. BA should give compensation because the shade is a basic amenity offered by the airline
By your reasoning iamhere, some might well consider that Boeing should pay as they supplied the inferior shades with the airframe.
I used to be opposed to the electronic window dimmers until I had a seatmate who was a nasty, militant African American woman who refused to open the shades half way before landing. Opening the shades improves safety because you can see which side of the plane is on fire. The flight attendant told me when I spoke her in the galley that her airline doesn't require it but thinks it is a good idea. (It wasn't BA)
I think it's a requirement on European airlines (from EASA and CAA?)
But apparently not from the FAA.
Seems odd that they don't reach a similar conclusion about whether it matters.
Perhaps it has in crashes in Europe (or even elsewhere in the world) but not yet in one in America.
"militant African American"
Thanks for the casual racism and cultural stereotyping. You could have easily relayed your anecdote without this and it wouldn't have diluted the meaning or context.
If the cliché fits...
As opposed to ‘militant European Americans’ of which there are millions!
Oh the irony.
And another racist douchebag is heard from…..
And the relevance of mentioning your seatmate’s skin color is what?
Put your Klan outfit back on and slink back to the white supremacist sites that are likely your natural home.
Your response shows why he mentioned it and why he was correct
Another Boeing malfunction. No surprises.
The 787 is really a bad, narrow plane. A product of spreadsheets, not passenger engagement
Yeah, those few inches less than the a350 is such a life changer! Try again.
Well now Dave, many would agree with you that a flight in an “A350 is such a life changer” …. have you been so blessed?
Yet the best selling widebody of all time?
Has the A350 beat by about 700 orders and it has never been re-engined nor has it had any upgrade. The 350 has had like 3-4 upgrades at this point and still can’t beat the 787 for value.
Oh yeah such a really bad plane.
Hate for the 787 is incredibly forced and over exaggerated.
I love the dimmable windows allows me to see outside without getting the full rays of the sun
If you want to sleep wear an eye mask. Problem solved. No reason to compensate anyone.
Especially the Tempur ones - really block out the light.
But what I dislike is the blinds being closed by the crew when I want to read.
Fringe opinion I know, but I actually really like the 787 dimmable shades (when they work). But as finicky as they seem to be, it's kind of crazy there wasn't any kind of manual backup included on each window. Because when they don't work, it's hell.
Shades add weight.
A negligible amount. There's 130~ passenger windows on the longest 787 variant, assuming each shade weighs a pound to be conservative since they're probably much lighter than that, that's 130lbs extra weight. About 2/3 the weight of one average adult man in the absolute worst possible case scenario.
I suspect the passenger has received an offer of Avios which is SOP but they are not happy with the amount and pushing for more due to the redemption of a companion voucher on this flight.
Securing a Companion voucher on a popular route like this hard enough already. Passenger should take the win and move on.
British Airways doesn’t care about passengers anymore. They are the worst European carrier I would avoid them at all costs. They’re not going to give you a dime … they are rude and insensitive and their corporate culture is just awful … go fly someone else like Air France who cares about people.
Is your surname Smith, by any chance?
BA/IAG is quite bad but they're far from the worst European airline, that title belongs to Lufthansa Group.
I agree with this comment. BA isnt always great, but Lufthansa group are terrible for this. As for Turkish…. I flew JIB-ZRH yesterday. No lounge access available (complicated reasons but they advertise and do have a lounge at JIB). Plus half the seats broken on the plane so no recline. The various forums suggest it’s a lost cause to complain to Turkish (my experience in the past) plus zero apology from the staff. At least...
I agree with this comment. BA isnt always great, but Lufthansa group are terrible for this. As for Turkish…. I flew JIB-ZRH yesterday. No lounge access available (complicated reasons but they advertise and do have a lounge at JIB). Plus half the seats broken on the plane so no recline. The various forums suggest it’s a lost cause to complain to Turkish (my experience in the past) plus zero apology from the staff. At least BA staff were trying….
Maybe I am a “BA apologist” but I do find something bizarrely unbalanced about the “BA and Heathrow are awful” tirades.
Well, well, Ben. You cannot possibly be describing the real BA, perhaps you mean AA, DL or UA perhaps? :-)
I always wondered if they carry lightweight emergency blinds. It’s not the first time that I am reading about a malfunction.
Aluminum foil would’ve worked as it completely darkens the window.