I travel quite a bit for work, and usually take Southwest, Northwest, Frontier or United.
Just today I flew Spirit for the first time, and just before take-off and landing, the flight attendents asked us to make sure our window shades were up. Of all the flights I’ve been on, hearing this rule is a first for me.
I understand returning your seats and tray tables to their upright and locked positions, but what’s the point of making sure the window shades are up?
I’ve heard this a few times on other airlines. Recently I flew in an exit row, and I noticed that the window on the exit door did not have a shade.
I think the reason is so that, if you crash near take-off or landing, you have a better idea of what conditions are like outside the plane before you remove and jump out of the exit door – e.g., if a fire has started on one side of the plane, you might want to get out on the other side.
It’s my understanding that, if there is a problem during landing and the power goes out, people will still be able to see by the light coming in through the windows.
Oddly enough, on our trip to Florida back in May, we took Northwest and they did the same thing. I asked the stewardess, as it was something I’d never heard before, and she said that it was “so that if there are any problems on the tarmac we can see it.” I don’t know how accurate that answer was, but it made some sense. Not that the stewardesses are looking out the windows on landing, but who knows?
They don’t need to look out on a normal landing, but they do if something has gone wrong with the landing.
We have discussed this is here before. Several of us have the manual of FAA flight rules. The shades up rule does not appear in any of of the rules. It is just airline policy. It isn’t a bad policy but, if you own 737, there is no mandate to follow it.