After boarding a flight, you may hear a flight attendant instruct you to keep your window shade open for the takeoff phase of your journey. Then, upon landing, they ask you to keep the window shade open again during landing and taxi. You, like me, have probably wondered what’s up with that. Why do flight attendants ask you to keep your window shades open during specific parts of your flight? The answer makes a ton of sense when you think about it.
Unsurprisingly, the answer is related to safety, and a laser focus on safety is why, statistically, flying is the safest way to travel. Airlines pack a couple of hundred people into metal tubes flying miles up in the sky at hundreds of miles per hour. Through the advancements in technology, regulations, manufacturing, and sadly, some lessons learned in blood, flying is safer than commuting to work in your car.
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The Federal Aviation Administration says it handles some 45,000 flights on an average day and ferries 2.9 million people around 29 million square miles of airspace. During any given peak period, there may be 5,400 planes all in the sky at the same time. Yet, on only an infinitesimal percentage of flights do things go wrong. It’s not hard to find a scary headline about something terrible that has happened to a flight, but remember, that was just one flight out of perhaps 45,000 on that day.
One of the reasons flying is so safe is the fact that the entire crew of a passenger aircraft is invested in getting everyone to their destination as safely as possible. Contrary to what some on TikTok might suggest, the crew wants to get home to their families just like you do, so they’re not going to give you malicious instructions.
The Critical Phases Of Flight
If you ever find yourself taking flight lessons – and it’s something I highly recommend if you can afford them – one of the first things you’ll learn is the critical phases of flight, which the FAA defines like so:
As defined in the regulation, critical phases of flight are all ground operations involving taxi, takeoff, and landing, and all other flight operations below 10,000 feet except cruise flight.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency says:
“’Critical phases of flight’ in the case of aeroplanes means the take-off run, the take-off flight path, the final approach, the missed approach, the landing, including the landing roll, and any other phases of flight as determined by the pilot-in-command or commander.
‘Critical phases of flight’ in the case of helicopters means taxiing, hovering, take-off, final approach, missed approach, the landing and any other phases of flight as determined by the pilot-in-command or commander.”
So, why are these called critical phases of flight? Well, these are situations where there’s a lot going on and errors can be dangerous or fatal. For example, an error during taxi could cause a collision on the ground. Meanwhile, an error right after takeoff could result in the aircraft stalling. An error during the takeoff roll could result in overrunning the runway or worse.
The United States enforces what it calls the “Sterile Flight Deck Rule.” When your aircraft is in a critical stage of flight you’re not supposed to be doing anything that’s not essential to the safe operation of the aircraft. That means no chatter about the company Christmas party while you’re thundering down the runway. Save the coffee and donuts for cruising altitude, too. The FAA says the Sterile Flight Deck Rule was proposed after the costly mistakes of distracted pilots.
If you’ve ever watched a plane disaster movie, you might have noticed that a lot of them put the characters in peril sometime after the aircraft has reached cruising altitude. In real life, a total loss of engine power at cruising altitude gives pilots a cushion of time and distance to get safely on the ground. But remove engine power during takeoff and it’s a very different situation as you aren’t likely to have the speed or the altitude for an ideal forced landing. Captain Sully Sullenberger’s quick thinking in saving US Airways Flight 1549‘s crippled Airbus A320 is a great example of how quickly situations can unfold during a critical phase of flight.
Why You Should Open Your Window Shades
The pilots aren’t the only ones keeping the aircraft safe during the phases of flight. The entire flight crew monitors the aircraft and its environment for anything that could be amiss.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol gets straight to the point about why you should keep those blinds open:
The window blinds on every plane always have to be open during take-off and landing, whether it’s dark outside or blinding sunlight. It’s for your own safety. If anything happens during take-off and landing – the most risky stages of every flight – then your eyes will already be used to the dark or the light outside, and you’ll be able to react more quickly. That’s also the reason why the lights in the cabin are dimmed for take-off and landing.
Another reason is that the cabin crew want to be able to see out during take-off and landing. If something goes wrong, then they can see if there is a problem with the engines or wings. And if the aircraft needs to be evacuated, you can see which side is safe to disembark from. This information can also be passed on to the pilots in the cockpit and the emergency services outside. Emergency services also prefer the window blinds to be open, so that the fire service can see immediately if there is smoke or fire on board.
According to travel magazine Afar, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines says: “In our flight manuals, flight attendants must ensure that [shades] are open at the emergency exits during take-off. This has to do with being able to check outside conditions in the event of emergencies.”
The request to keep window shades already has some real basis in safety. Pilots can’t see what’s going on at the back of the plane, so passengers and flight attendants can relay important information such as fluid leaks, parts falling off, and more.
Now, if you’re reading this and can’t recall a flight attendant ever asking you to open a window shade, there’s a reason for that.
The International Air Transport Association, a trade group that represents over 300 airlines around the globe and helps propose industry policy changes, merely recommends that airlines instruct passengers to keep those shades open. The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization also recommends this practice.
However, the decision is ultimately up to the airline. As Afar notes, a number of international carriers will request passengers to open their shades, but airlines here in the United States do not. The FAA doesn’t have a rule about having window shades during critical phases of flight, so it’s completely voluntary.
United Airlines is noted as the standout airline that requests passengers to open their window shades during critical phases of flight. However, as I’ve noticed on flights, there’s no real consequence to ignoring the request. My window shade is usually open during takeoff and landing, anyway. Seeing the outside world is a perk of a window seat, after all.
While this isn’t a law, some aircraft do make it easier to facilitate giving flight attendants a line of sight outside. Some regional aircraft may not have shades on their exit row windows at all while some more advanced aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner also don’t have window shades. Instead, they have electronically dimmable windows, and flight attendants can lock them into a fully transparent position.
While we’re on the subject of things flight attendants request of you, keeping your seatback upright and your tray table stowed during critical phases of the flight is also important. If there’s an emergency, reclined seats and deployed tray tables can delay a quick evacuation. Consider that passengers may be frantic and there might even be smoke hindering vision. You don’t want to give people obstacles. Also, don’t further delay an evacuation by trying to grab your carry-on, just leave it behind.
So, if you’re on a plane and a flight attendant asks you to keep your shade open, now you know why. They aren’t trying to get in the way of your good read or movie, but they want to make sure if something happens, they can see it and help relay information to the pilots and maybe emergency services. It’s just another reason why flying remains a remarkably safe way to travel.
(Images: Author, unless otherwise noted.)
I used to work at the Boeing wide body assembly plant in Everett. Beside the thrill of having access to factory floor, I learned about few of the tests these big birds undergo. Among them:
Fully fuel-loaded (400,000 lbs) takeoff abort on an Arizona runway in summertime, delayed emergency response, brakes on fire. In a scenario like this the plane has to to cleared in 90 seconds with some exits blocked. That’s 500+ people in some configurations.
Think about that the next time you’re behind someone shambling down the aisle dragging a bulging carryon and a venti. The flight crew are the difference between them getting out in their feet vs in a bag.
So yeah, I’m not making that job any harder than it is already.
Some Boeing 737s even have self opening windows.
Too soon?
Took an international flight earlier this summer (Austrian Airlines Boeing 787-9), and the window “shades” were actually electrical opaque glass – and were automatically “opened” for takeoff/landing.
Southwest did not require blinds to be open on last two trips (four flights) in July and September. In fact blinds were all closed as they asked us to close them before getting off the plane. I thought it was odd they didn’t ask them to be opened. Don’t know if it’s an FAA change or they are just flouting the rules. It was annoying because most people who took window seats left them closed so I couldn’t see out during the flight.
I haven’t been asked to keep them open in years, but on my last flight the person in the row behind me reached forward and closed the window by my shoulder. They got very aggressive seat reclines the rest of the flight.
You have seats that recline? I know there’s theoretically that button, but I’ve never actually perceived a recline when I try to use it.
Doesn’t RECLINE so much as it doesn’t actively pitch you forward.
In these more recent times I was pretty sure it was to crowd source the falling parts inventory to the passengers, but historically, it was to get everyone to look out for Godzilla and King Kong. Once at cruising altitude everyone can relax.
Never order the fish.
For me, it was so I could look out on final descent to Cairo airport and see the ground level and wonder if the runway was lower as the pilot should be leveling—BANG! A successful controlled crash. It was a fitting introduction to Egypt.
Last month I flew to the UK. The US to UK flight was British Airways and they were pretty adamant about raising the shades for take off and landing. The flight back was American Airlines and they only asked us to close the shades during the “night” portion of the flight (i.e., quiet time). Nothing about the shades on TO of landing.
I wondered about the BA shades direction, so thanks for answering my unasked question, Mercedes! And stop reading my mind!!!
I find it irritating when I’m in the middle seat and the window seat passenger next to me sits down and immediately closes the shade. Maybe if you fly enough it becomes routine, but flying is so rare for me that I want to look out the window for the entire flight. If they don’t want to look out the window, then don’t pick a window seat!
I get that it’s annoying to you. But the window seat is the best for sleeping b/c you can lean up against the wall. 😐
If you want to look out the window, then you should pick a window seat! How hard is that?
For real, this is like picking the aisle seat then whining about people asking you to get up so they can use the bathroom
On Southwest it’s free seating so whoever gets on first gets their pick of seats so the later passengers don’t really have the option.
Seats may be unassigned, but they ain’t free.
I try to read the other people in my row. If they’re just reading books or watching a movie, I usually close the shade after the plane gets high enough that I can’t make out anything below. If they’re actively looking out the window, I’ll leave it open. But I always have it open on the ground because I like planespotting and such. 🙂
I like to signal SOS with the shade in case any ground crew or passengers on other planes are looking.
Yeah, I kinda agree with those who say that if you want to look out the window, you should get a window seat. If you aren’t able to, then you just have to go with whatever that window-seat-person decides. That said, I don’t get why anyone would take a window seat and then close the window on a clear, daytime flight. Watching the U.S. go by from 30,000 feet is amazing, no matter how many times I see it.
I fly on Delta usually at least once a week. I can count on one hand the number of times flight attendants have asked for shades to be open. If they do it’s usually only the Seat 1A in First Class on non 757 planes. Even then it’s pretty rare.
I once was the parts guy for a fleet of 10-12 Experimental Test Aircraft. Fascinating job and learned A LOT about flight, aircraft, etc. from some incredible Test Pilots and Flight Test Engineers. Even got to sit right seat on a couple of flights (in aircraft that were single pilot rated, of course). It was an incredible experience flying an aircraft, seeing the world below. Listening and interacting with air traffic control (ATC) was also neat.
As mentioned above, it’s not that expensive to take a discovery flight at a flight school local to you. If for nothing else, it will give you an appreciation for planes and what pilots/crew do on a daily basis (and a kick-ass story to tell your friends).
Why do they want the shades open?
Because they KNOW that THING is out there on the wing!! They KNOW, but they don’t want me to know THAT THEY KNOW!!!
Thank you, Mr Shatner.
Immediately scrolled looking for this reference.
I mostly fly SWA, and during the disembarkation and boarding process in the summer, they request that pax close the shades, it’s hot outside. I don’t recall them asking that the shades be raised for takeoff, but I do recall an occasional request to raise them during approach and landing.
circa 2015 on a night flight from heathrow to abu dhabi, we turned left to fly around, north then east of, ukraine. flight crew directed (not asked) that all window shades be closed. i presume so that no hotshot could get a visual bearing on us (ref MH17).
I always thought it was so the people in the terminal could see you shiver and burn like a dying spider in the unlikely event of a ground collision.
Huh, I thought the shade thing was so snipers could take a crack at the highjackers
From watching many many episodes of “Air Disasters”, I’ve often wondered why modern aircraft do not have external cameras that the flight crew can use to easily look at the engines.
Yes! Adding cameras to the plane would be a great solution – but where would you display, probably not recommended for the primary screens.
I would think it would be an option…. another dial/switch that lets the pilots pull up the camera at will, not a permanent screen.
How about: why do flight attendants wear those colorful scarves?
So emergency services can easily identify them as being the people who will be helpful.
To stop men from learing at their chests.
Sigh. I freaking hate this answer. Not because I disagree, but because I have to acknowledge it’s probably accurate, and because as a man, this answer embarrasses me.
I hate it also, but from what I’ve learnt about us males over the last few years, it’s just sad.
Every time I see a female, I want to apologize for men and how they act.
“Uh, hi. I was just admiring your jaunty scarf!”
Excuse me. My name tag is over HERE.
Wearing those scarves is like waving a cape at a bull..