# Quick airplane question! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050 "2017-11-29T12:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/1 "2017-11-29T12:24:54Z")
Why do they insist that the window shades be up for landing and take off? What’s that all about? What difference could it possibly make? ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/2 "2017-11-29T12:27:33Z")
Possibly, its just not time for you to be asleep. You may be dog tired and dread a long flight, or switching your internal clock for the new time zone, but during the time when most problems can occur, they want you awake, upright and listening to general instructions, and possible emergency instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/3 "2017-11-29T12:34:07Z")
Last time I flew, someone dropped a bag on a seat and disappeared. They asked whose it was, they announced “Is this bag anyone’s”, they asked me 10 times if it was mine – no, its not mine and I didn’t see whose it was, they announce repeatedly they’re going to get rid of it – then they shake awake random asleep guy. “Oh yeah, that’s mine” _mumble mumble sleepy_. Happens on the train too. Literally 30 seconds after boarding, people are fast asleep and have no idea why the conductor is bothering them. They should pin their ticket to their hat if sleep is that important. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/4 "2017-11-29T12:46:16Z")
Two reasons: 1. It lets the flight attendants see which escape chutes can be safely deployed, and which would open right into a fireball. 2. It lets the rescue crews see what’s going on inside the plane. Also, your seatbacks have to be upright so the window and middle passengers can get out quickly. None of which you need to know, so they don’t say it. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/5 "2017-11-29T13:14:17Z")
A related question: When I was a kid in the late '70s, I flew across the Atlantic several times. As I recall, there was never any problem with having your window shade up whenever you wanted, never mind whether the guy next to you was trying to get some shut-eye. More recently, I’ve been flying across the Pacific, and with the exceptions of takeoff and landing, the flight crew requests that everyone keep their window shades down at all times so people can sleep more easily. Why the difference? Is it about the length of the flight (my Pacific flights are much longer than my Atlantic flights were), or is this some kind of courtesy thing that developed sometime between the '70s and now? Is it just a Delta Airlines thing? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/6 "2017-11-29T13:16:09Z")
It does let passengers take naps more easily, and it keeps the movie screens from being washed out with too much light. Besides, there’s nothing much to see down there but ocean, and maybe just a cloud layer. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/7 "2017-11-29T13:31:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It does let passengers take naps more easily, and it keeps the movie screens from being washed out with too much light. Besides, there’s nothing much to see down there but ocean, and maybe just a cloud layer. Yep, I understand the advantages. But what changed between my Atlantic flights in the '70s and my Pacific flights these days? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/8 "2017-11-29T13:37:51Z")
_Maybe_: The movie screens are smaller and much closer to the windows now, typically in the seatbacks, and are LCD-based. In the 70’s, they were the projection type with the screens in the middle of the cabin. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/9 "2017-11-29T13:46:19Z")
As to the OP’s Q, **ElvisL1ves** nailed it. It’s so you can see outside to know where the fire is or isn’t during an evacuation. Also, in an evacuation 100% of the interior lighting will fail. It’s a hell of a lot easier to see to get out when sunshine is streaming in 100 windows than when everything is dead dark. The “emergency lights that will lead you to an exit” provide markings, not illumination. Substantially all the rest of the lights go off when we kill the engines if they haven’t already shut off as the airplane takes damage. As I wrote by coincidence a couple days ago, nowadays fewer and fewer carriers are requesting/demanding that passengers raise shades for takeoff & landing. Why is that? > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Yep, I understand the advantages. But what changed between my Atlantic flights in the '70s and my Pacific flights these days? What’s changed is people’s expectations of how we spend our time. Even on domestic in the daytime most people with window seats keep their shades down. So they can see their vid screens. Ultimately the airlines and FAs are just reacting to what most of the public wants most of the time. And what they want is to be mesmerized by their vid toys. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/10 "2017-11-29T15:24:02Z")
Are Airplane shades getting better? I have done some 12-15 hour flights and despite being in daylight throughout, the inside was pitchblack. The 80’s and early 90’s planes did not have that. Or so I seem to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/11 "2017-11-29T15:48:37Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Are Airplane shades getting better? I have done some 12-15 hour flights and despite being in daylight throughout, the inside was pitchblack. The 80’s and early 90’s planes did not have that. Or so I seem to remember. Most planes these days seem to have plastic sliding shutters that fit inside the window frame to make a lightproof seal. On old planes I remember there just being ordinary curtains. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/12 "2017-11-29T15:50:19Z")
From [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=842773), posted by **LSLguy** , who is a pilot: The cabin crew used to call for shades to be up for takeoff and landing so you and they had some hope of seeing where the fire is outside if there was an event needing an evacuation. That was stopped a couple years ago when **compliance collapsed to zero** and TPTB decided it was just too hard. So yes, Karl Marx was right–We _can_ win the class struggle!! Flyers of the world unite! The powers that be will actually submit to our dictates. Today, the window shades…tomorrow, let’s demand that they [put the olive back in our salad!](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88166) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/13 "2017-11-29T15:52:16Z")
It’s a large metal tube with wings, but that’s not important right now. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/14 "2017-11-29T15:58:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What’s changed is people’s expectations of how we spend our time. > > Even on domestic in the daytime most people with window seats keep their shades down. So they can see their vid screens. > > Ultimately the airlines and FAs are just reacting to what most of the public wants most of the time. And what they want is to be mesmerized by their vid toys. Plausible, but I’ve never heard the request from the crew (to lower window shades after takeoff) on domestic flights. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/15 "2017-11-29T16:08:23Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Plausible, but I’ve never heard the request from the crew (to lower window shades after takeoff) on domestic flights. 😕 I have, on coast-to-coast red eyes. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/16 "2017-11-29T16:33:18Z")
On long haul overseas flights they do the same. 15hrs, several hundred people, damn straight they want people to sleep! ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/17 "2017-11-29T18:03:13Z")
Back in 1963, \*Twilight Zone \*aired an episode called \*Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. \* That’s why I learned to do aileron rolls. (that’s why I close the shades too) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/18 "2017-11-29T18:43:26Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Back in 1963, \*Twilight Zone \*aired an episode called \*Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. \* > > That’s why I learned to do aileron rolls. > > (that’s why I close the shades too) Bawahahahaha, that is one of my favorite TZ shows. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/19 "2017-11-29T18:56:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Are Airplane shades getting better? I have done some 12-15 hour flights and despite being in daylight throughout, the inside was pitchblack. The 80’s and early 90’s planes did not have that. Or so I seem to remember. The Boeing 787, launched a few years ago, has a [major innovation](https://gizmodo.com/5829395/how-boeings-magical-787-dreamliner-windows-work): “electrified gel,” rather than a physical shade. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050/20 "2017-11-29T19:05:39Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The Boeing 787, launched a few years ago, has a [major innovation](https://gizmodo.com/5829395/how-boeings-magical-787-dreamliner-windows-work): “electrified gel,” rather than a physical shade. I was just about the mention that. And one of it’s great advantages is that you can undim it just a little, so you can watch the mountains and clouds below without shining bright lights in your neighbors’ eyes. Another advantage is that they can dim all of them centrally, so the guy who fell asleep as soon as he got on the plane doesn’t have to be awakened to lower his shade so everyone else can sleep. (At least on the flight I was on, when they dimmed all the windows, they allowed individuals to undim their own window a bit. I didn’t try undimming it all the way, because, surprise!, the guy next to me was trying to sleep. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-airplane-question/803050.md?page=2)