johnlindy

Remind me to not sit next to Herb. Sounds like a considerate fella.

johnlindy

Unsure how effective an eyeshade is to reduce the glare on screens when reflected thru the window. The person sitting in the window seat is often least affected by reflected glare. It can be blinding. Many times, it is the screen glare from the window seat occupant that is blinding. They're oblivious

kimikoftokyo

As stated in other comments, I sit at the window to view the outside. It does sound like a new norm. Not saying I am for it though. I have worked on things via my laptop/tablet and the window was up. I think to each their own. As long as the airlines don’t start requiring it. Which would make no sense. I would need a scientific back reason why haha. No really enjoy your flights with the shades up and enjoy the view !!!

nrr

Planes are like "sardine" cans, with the shades open the inside and outside merge giving me the perception of a more spacious plane. I also like to see the landscape below, spotting landmarks is also nice.

britNY

Boy do I find this annoying. At least gave the damn things up for taxi takeoff and landing, to me they are the most interesting parts of flying and some airliners mandate that anyway.

aeolos

The big question is why doesn’t the FAA mandate shades up for takeoff/landing like many other countries? If all the shades are down there is no situational awareness of what is going outside and your eyes would have trouble adjusting to daylight in the event of an evacuation.

scottsol

J meal = kosher

RoadWarrior200

Pre-Covid, I did LAX-JFK roundtrips several times a year in Business Class. I have always preferred window seats (avoids being bumped by passengers and crew walking past) and have always enjoyed looking out, especially for daytime cross country trips where I can work but also periodically look out the window and remind myself what an extraordinary country this is. So I was somewhat annoyed when the informal protocol of keeping the shades closed took hold many years ago, but I also realized that a lot of people needed to sleep, the glare of the sun really was disturbing for working or watching movies depending on the plane's angle, etc. So I'm now fine with closing the shades and keeping them closed throughout the flight. On most flights, they were required to be open for takeoff and landing, for safety reasons, and some cabin crews enforced this policy but most didn't.

Adelphos

Is it an actual FAA mandate? I haven't seen it mentioned or enforced in years.

azmojo

The most respectful position to other passengers is shade closed. An open shade only benefits the person or persons next to the window.

enviroian

Sunday I was flying MXP-JFK all day flight. As soon as lunch was served everyone put down their window shades presumably to sleep and watch IFE. I get it , and closed mine. However I connected onto a lga-dfw flight also day (albeit late afternoon) and everyone had their shade down...everyone...except me the whole way. I like to look out the window, sorry folks.

NotSoFrequentColorado

What I hate is when the window seat person insists on shades down all the way through landing! I really like to see how close the plane is to the ground so that BUMP doesn't startle me.

Lomapaseo

I once sat next to a BA Captain on a TATL flight, he dozed off and when the gear hit the ground he woke with alarm having thought we had crashed short

( we were both in the F cabin)

psusaver

Although it is not a regulation, I am strong proponent of window shades being up (/open/electronically transparent) during takeoff, landing (and when northern lights are on display ). Quoting a pilot (to support my view) from aviation stackexchange: "passengers eyes will also be more acclimated to the lighting outside the airplane if the window shades are open."

tdietterich

I'm one of those folks who gets a lot of work done on my laptop during flights, so I like a darker cabin. I prefer window seats as well, and close the shade. But I also enjoy looking out the window from time to time, for example, while eating lunch/dinner. I think if the window-seat occupant is enjoying the view, that's fine. But if they are going to sleep, I'd appreciate it if they would close the shade first.

I thought it was an FAA regulation to have the shades up for takeoff and landing.