American Airlines passenger reignites debate over airplane etiquette after argument over sun blinds
An airline passenger has revived an age-old etiquette debate after his or her seatmate refused to lower the sunshade.
On Reddit, the American Airlines passenger showed a photo of a man sitting in a window seat.
While the other shades around them were closed, the window next to the man was still partially open, allowing bright sunlight to stream into the plane.
“The whole cabin is dark, FA asks him to put the shade down and he says ‘um no,’” the Reddit poster captioned the photo.
“What’s the etiquette here?” he asked.
An airline passenger has revived an age-old etiquette debate after his or her seatmate refused to lower the sunshade
Users remained divided over who sat on the right, with some claiming that the window seat gets the control, while others said they should always listen to the flight crew.
“The window seat gets window controls,” one user noted.
They continued, “Center gets most of both armrests. Aisle will have easy exit and ‘extra’ arm/leg room on the corridor side.’
‘I doubt FA asked him to lower it mid-flight. Especially before boarding/departing as it helps keep the cabin cool,” wrote another.
‘An FA will ask AA if it is a long-haul international flight so that people can sleep and jet lag is kept to a minimum. They are not allowed to ask that in their own country,” said another.
“However, if an FA asks you to close it for some unknown safety reason and you don’t comply, then that is a violation of an FAA regulation to comply with crew member instructions.”
“Etiquette is following the instructions of crew members,” stated another. ‘That’s the only etiquette. Everything else is made up.”
“I don’t like flying and looking outside helps calm my anxiety,” someone else suggested. “Maybe he looks like him.”
On Reddit, the American Airlines passenger showed a photo of a man sitting in a window seat (stock image)
Users were divided over who was right, with some claiming that the window seat gets the check, while others said they should always just listen to the flight crew
It is not the first time that window curtains have caused division among passengers.
In March, content creator Umaymah caused a stir after showing an obnoxious seat passenger – who turned out to be a child – on their day flight.
The Dubai-based content creator posted the eight-second clip on TikTok, showing off her controversial response.
In the video, Umaymah sits in her seat on the plane, with the sunshade up and light shining in.
But as she sits there, a small hand reaches back from behind the front seat and deftly closes the blinds – despite it being the window closest to her seat.
From there, a game of tug-of-war was secured in front of the windows, with the young boy reaching back again to close the blinds, only for Umaymah to stop him by putting her hand in the way to stop him.
“It’s my window,” she indignantly captioned the video.
“He had HIS OWN WINDOW,” she added.
Users were divided over her reaction to the child closing the blinds. Some agreed that she had jurisdiction over the window, while others thought she should be more lenient because her seatmate was just a child.
