The Window Shade

Reflections from Wayne Hale on the apparent new anti-social activity in airplanes: Looking out the window.

I have actually been requested to put my shade down on an occasion in which the sun was beaming right in the window. On my trip to Israel a couple years ago, the sun came up as we were approaching the French coast, but the plane remained dark. I had to crack the bottom if I wanted to see, as we crossed the French then Italian Alps and Monico, and then Italy and Greece. Last week on the way to DC I ended up with a window seat with no window (the seat in front of me had two). It was almost claustrophobic. When I hear about these new aircraft coming along without windows, I think “No way.”

9 thoughts on “The Window Shade”

  1. First world problems….

    Another is mine: I am so tall that the window is about at the level of my lower ribcage – if I am stuck in an outboard seat (I normally try for an aisle) there is no way I can bend enough to see much out the window.

  2. Maybe they’ll install a few cameras on the exterior of the aircraft and allow passengers to get a virtual view through their entertainment system.

  3. On my way back from Nashville I was three seats back from a person who had her shade open, and the rising sun was shining directly on my face, to the point where I couldn’t see anything else. I guess I should have just accepted that since it would have been impolite to ask her to lower her screen, she should have been able to see outside to her heart’s content.

  4. I prefer an aisle seat myself when I have a window seat the shade is almost always down. Having spent years underwater in a submarine not being able to look outside doesn’t phase me. I concede the need for those with a more delicate constitution. The shade positioning comes down to manners and etiquette which have gone out the window some years ago.

    1. For me, and I suspect for many others, it not about having a delicate constitution — it is about wanting to enjoy the amazing view!

  5. Hey Rand, how would you like to fly on a flying wing? It could carry half its weight in cargo, or passengers. I have flown on 737, and on A-320. I would like to fly on a lightcraft one day. It would be able to go any where in the world in one hour, or less.

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