There are lots of opinions when it comes to appropriate airplane etiquette, ranging from seat recline, to dressing up, to changing seats with others, and more. In this post, I’d like to address the topic of etiquette around opening and closing airplane window shades.
Continue reading: Airplane Window Shade Etiquette: Who Has Control?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Anyone think it's only a matter of time before business class is fully enclosed whether curtains to start and eventually doors? That would really help with window shades.
Of course if I would like to get some sleep on a long-haul flight during the day, I close it. But if I'm just waking up, I would like to fully open it whether sunset or sunrise.
The rule should be simple:
- always open the shades (if it's night, it's dark outside anyways)
- if you want to sleep in day light and don't like the cabin being bright, use an eye mask
And now we need a long write up about "shared" windows .... a window right at your shoulder that you have to reach back and the row behind have to lean forward. Who is in control?
The only exception i have is for short overnight flights, I'm fine having my shade closed for all but the first and last hour, but yes, otherwise, just use an eyemask if you want darkness. I'm keeping my window open.
Honestly, this, after flying in EK F (in the game changer 777) last month (humblebrag, sorry). I loved being able to leave the windows open and not concerning myself with whether it'd bug others (it was a morning flight out of DXB so I wanted to look out for a good while). Bonus was not needing the eye mask when it was time for me to nap.
We're already seeing partially enclosed suites all over in J, why not make them fully enclosed?
Another post about window shade etiquette? Must be a slower news day to post old topics, Ben.
I open the window shade , and if someone is rude to me , I start a food fight .
Guess you rarely change time zones when you fly. Fly west coast to europe and the "night" is very short
I'm definitely a window person and if I happen to get an aisle seat and the person next to the window closes the shade so I can't see out I get severely pissed off
I have found that it is generally okay to keep it open, but even as someone who appreciates looking through, I cannot always have it open. Ironically, one instance was in J on the 77W DFW-LHR, in June, when the early morning light started to shine in the cabin crew requested that I close it so it didn't wake/blind everyone else who was still sleeping.
Worst is when someone on the sunrise side leaves it open, falls asleep, so that the other side of the plane gets blasted.
Yet again running out of story ideas. Person at window has control but for crying out loud leave the bloody shades open for landing and take off. Why cant Americans grasp that concept? It's regarded as a safety matter. The world's safest airline insists on it. Americans and American carriers just cant understand that. Just too stupid.
I HATE a dark cabin. I just don't get why people are comfortable in a dark tube on a day time flight. I fly TPA-SAN on Alaska on a regular basis and alternate between F and PE depending on a number of factors. I am an older guy (restroom....) so I chose an aisle. When boarding I flip the window shade open and it usually stays that way when the window pax boards. I am totally agree that the window pax controls the shades. Many times I get a row to myself in PE so.... I'm a happy guy. I get that in hot climates ( Florida, Nevada, Arizona) its good to close the shades on arrival to cool the cabin but safety suggests opening them after boarding.
So I'm not imagining this.. I can see others have noticed this story has been published to death.
Ben - and while this is criticism, it is constructive criticism - There is no obligation to publish a set number of stories every day. Nobody will think any less of you if you posted a couple of relevant, interesting posts a day, rather than the same archive items about windows and seat recline and what to wear on first class.
Who has control when the window shade is precisely between two rows? I found myself in this position last week and thought about this post.
@Bradstpete, I do the same thing for the same reasons. But more often than not the person in the window sits down and immediately closes the shade. I want light. It used to be light in cabins but now everyone is on their devices. One of my flight pleasures is reading a paper book and on some planes I have to give up and read on my tablet because I can't get enough light.
Jet - I was writing this to Ben because he has explicitly asked readers to provide feedback on how to make the blog more attractive to his readers. I honestly believe Ben is interested in this sort of feedback (if I’m wrong I am happy to stop providing it)