sxc

It seems that CX is going to request passengers to close the window shades on the way out of the plane:

http://www.pprune.org/fragrant-harbo...nitiative.html

Sounds a bit ridiculous to me.

psychoandy

no different than asking pax to dispose of their trash in an appropriate manner. airlines in the USA typically request shades down post landing during the summer or when landing at seriously hot places like LAS. as someone who is hot all the time, i favor any scheme that will assist in keeping the aircraft cool.

QRC3288

To be fair, this is pretty common in the US and isn't a bad practice...the ground power or APU or whatever the source of AC is when the engines arent on is often insufficient to keep the plane cool on hot days. Doesn't surprise me this is coming up now seeing HK has faced record temperatures this summer.

I was on a flight earlier this year where a group of passengers were utterly berating CX flight attendants for the temperature on board. We had boarded but were parked at the gate with a push back delat. 773 to TPE IIRC, I was in economy and the waaaay back. ISM eventually threatened them with escalation to the captain if they didnt shutup. The plane was indeed hot and apparently they had a few elderly passengers in their tour group. It was a situation where they were being over the top and all piling on top of one another to add their piece, but at the same time the plane was damn hot. The passengers couldve behaved better....but also wouldn't have had an issue if the plane was a bit cooler.

kaka

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Methinks closing blinds is the right thing to do
Just, WHO should do it.

If its the right thing to do, id donit.

CX828

Hmm that seems odd. After having all the blinds mandatory in up position for landing and everyone getting the natural light and brightness, before being asked to close them again and alighting the aircraft with only the lights on is certainly strange.

Surely if its a turnaround flight, the plane is not on ground long enough for this to make a difference, and if its a long-haul turnaround the cleaners could do it after cleaning each row?

I know that whenever I board widebody BA planes they always seem to have all the windows closed. It is so strange to board a plane in darkness (no natural light). I find it makes it more claustrophobic and I always open my window to let some light in. I appreciate the difference it might make though and I am happy to just open them if they are closed. But like I said, I don't like the idea of making pax. do it after landing. There are better ways.

SJOGuy

Two completely different situations. Shades go up for landing so that if an emergency occurs, passengers can see outside the aircraft. Once on the ground, shades go down to keep the inside of the plane cool. Is it really such a chore to reach over and put the shade down if the request is made?

AA does this regularly at its DFW hub during the summer. It's a beastly hot place.

Often1

People overthink these things and get riled up over less than nothing. This is common sense and good for all.

Shades up for landing in case of emergency. Being able to see what's outside helps to orient people in an emergency and may also stop them from using a particular exit.

Shades down on off-loading helps to keep the aircraft cool. It's a minor ask for a major benefit for the next passengers.

Staff can certainly do this, but that takes time and time both costs money in terms of staff and also means that turn time is extended (and perhaps if done by cabin crew may extend their mandatory rest period).

cxfan1960

IMHO, having a request is fine, if they do not make that an order (unlike during taking off, long haul cruising, landing).

In fact, they don't need to do that. The FAs at the back of the plane can just close the shades when they move up with disembarking passengers. (The next FAs, not the passengers, have to re-open the shades anyway before boarding passengers for the next flight.)

SJOGuy

No one is ordering anybody to close the shades. It's a request. Nothing more. Why not cooperate? Is it really such a chore? I don't see the need to make a big deal out of this.

At DFW this time of year, you board a plane and the shades will likely be closed. They'll often announce a request that you keep them closed until the engines and a/c get going. No one will do anything to you if you open your shade and want to look out, but, again, why not cooperate and help in some little way?

77W_12A

I agree. I have absolutely no problem to close the shades when landing. It's not like their putting a gun to your head and say, "if you don't do it, we're going to suspend your MPC account." Perhaps the favor will be returned in kind when you board the next flight and it's cooler because someone had the kindness to close it.

I suppose someone won't be happy with this and will report it to oncc and they'll have a big article about it on their next issue.

Rivarix

It's interesting that if one looks at the responses so far, generally speaking you see one response from those who indicate their location as US vs. those who indicate their location as Asia.

It's about expectation. It's no different than going to McD - in the US people remove the trash while in asia people leave them on the table. Is one right and one wrong? No - different country works differently and just because they do it in US it doesn't mean that somehow the rest of the world should follow (regardless whether it is right or wrong).

FAs are usually the last ones to disembark - as mentioned above they can easily do it on their way out. On the other hand passengers can do it too when they disembark. So who should do it? It all comes down to expectation - if US-based airlines request passengers to do it, do you expect CX as an Asian-based airline to do the same?

Whether one thinks it is right or wrong, chore or not, big deal or not, request or not, I think we can all agree it is another example of CX passing along the responsibility from itself/its airline crew to passenger which people in the US are very accustomed to. An example of americanization of cathay pacific I'd say.

Don't bite my head off please (if you disagree).

Often1

This isn't about the expectation that customers clean off their own tables. This is a simple request that passengers perform a minimal courtesy which benefits the next passengers (and, in turn benefits you when you board an aircraft the next time).

The fact that people even kvetch about being asked to perform the simplest of things is a troubling comment about self-indulgence and self-entitlement at its worst.

To those who are asked and who don't: it is unlikely that you will be shot, jailed or bound to your seat for all eternity. The world will move on.

IceTrojan

I have no problem with a request. It's a numbers game anyway... the more pax comply, the lower the number of windows have to be closed by whoever has to do it, whether it's the FAs or cleaning crew.

sxc

I find this request unusual just because I've never been on a flight where such a request has been made. I probably haven't flown in the USA enough.

cxfan1960

Me neither, but most of my flights are international...