[cwoodward]

I travel a good deal from Asia on Cathay and Singapore.
If I am asleep with the blind open at dawn and others are sleeping the crew will quietly close it.
This for me is not a problem and just common sense.
However in day time if the blind is closed every time I leave the seat or close my eyes for a few moments while listening to music I do get cross and have it stopped.

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flyingdutchman1

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=947335]I travel a good deal from Asia on Cathay and Singapore.

If I am asleep with the blind open at dawn and others are sleeping the crew will quietly close it.

This for me is not a problem and just common sense.

However in day time if the blind is closed every time I leave the seat or close my eyes for a few moments while listening to music I do get cross and have it stopped.[/quote]

Exactly, it all comes down to a bit of common sense as opposed to I, I, I.

Common sense also being something in short supply on BA these days.

[Tramor01]

If I’m coming back on one of the morning/lunchtime flights from SE Asia to the UK/EU, (similarly going to the US) I will insist on keeping the window blind at least half open (to accommodate the video screens), and if approached by the crew to close them, I say in a loudish voice, “anyone looking to sleep now on a daytime flight east to west (and gaining time/daylight) will end out paying the price when they arrive and they try to get to sleep that night!

If a fellow passenger moans at me, saying I’m selfish, (or worse) I just respond by saying “that’s what the eye masks are for – Use those if you want to sleep on a daytime flight, and let those of us who want to enjoy the daytime view do so.
OK, It may make me seem like a grumpy old git – but sorry, closed blinds (in first or business in particular) on a daytime flight is a bugbear of mine. 😉 🙂

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flyingdutchman1, Montysaurus, TupeloKid, canucklad, MartynSinclair, capetonianm

[K1ngston]

[quote quote=947217] @superchris – I have no issue with cabin crew closing my blinds when I am asleep, as long as cabin crew have no issue with me raising the blinds when I wake up. Most of my longhaul flights are now overnighters to Asia and back. My strategy for combating jet lag is to change to local time for my destination as soon as possible, i.e. seeing light in day time, seeing darkness at night time. About 90 minutes from landing into Asia (afternoon at destination), blinds go fully up. I generally do not suffer jet lag and frequently go into meetings within an hour of arrival. I am also very fortunate that I sleep very well on most overnight flights (and I still haven’t touched a sleeping pill for over 6 years)

I feel extremely uncomfortable being forced to remain in darkness on a day flight, but accept blinds do need to be semi closed for the IFE to be enjoyed.

Also on a day flight, I love to see the world from high up, wherever I am sitting – it makes me appreciate even more, how lucky I am to live the fabulous life I lead.

Apologies if this makes me unpopular, but this is why, I sit by the window. As you can imagine, I detest the cabin crew electronically controlled blinds…[/quote]

And here was I was thinking your cure for jetlag was handed down to you by “Gordons” Martyn???

[TupeloKid]

Key word is “quiet”. I have been dozing with the window blind up, and a neighbour has leaned forward or across and closed the blind with a slam. Having been fully awakened by said passenger, I want to look out of the window, so then reopen the blind. Much grumpiness ensues.

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=947707]And here was I was thinking your cure for jetlag was handed down to you by “Gordons” Martyn???[/quote]

Gordons?? I sincerely hope you have have a far more extensive drinks cabinet.. or do I need to bring my own 🙂 ??

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Montysaurus

[MartynSinclair]

errr. the quote should have come from K1ngston – not sure why TupeloKid has been mentioned….

[christopheL]

When a passenger is boarding an aircraft, he naturally thinks that all other passengers are in the same time zone as him. This is particularly the case when the aircraft takes off from the company’s hub.
But obviously this is not always the case.
I recently flew from AMS to TPE on a day flight landing at 5:00 AM in Taipei with a connective daily flight to SYD. As i almost didn’t sleep during may day flight reom AMS to TPE I wanted to sleep during my fligt to SYD but obviously many taiwanese passengers didn’t sleep at all.
I am one of those who believe that the use of shutters should be free. I do not know if the conditions of carriage require shutters to be closed during a particular flight, but I would be surprised if that were the case.
I understand that some people don’t like wearing eye shades ‘I am not a fan of them) but isn’t it up to them to make the effort to wear them when a flight is during the day and they want to sleep ?
I understand that a traveller may want to be prepared to deal with the time difference associated with his destination, but if not everyone is in the same situation as him, is it logical to force passengers to close the shutters during a day flight?
IMHO I Don’t think so.

[Andrew]

When flying long haul, I deliberately book a window seat on the north side of the aircraft. I like looking out of the window, and assume that there’s less likelihood that people using IFE will have problems if the blind is open on the shady side of the aircraft.
Much more of a problem is that on trains, particularly Eurostars, where a blind is shared by two rows of seats!

[LuganoPirate]

I always book a seat on the port side so flying south the rising sun is never a problem, though the light still comes in as I also like the blind up to see either the stars, other aircraft or lightning at night and the ground during the day. I find it rather pointless for the crew to turn on all the cabin lights at breakfast but everyone leaving the blinds down. Persoanlly I sleep better with light, and never draw the curtains at home when going to bed, so I’m afraid, also in agreement with Martyn, it’s blinds up when awake, and don’t care either way if asleep, so long as they are closed gently.

[canucklad]

Also not forgetting a couple of simple equations here ……particularly on day flights
Time duration of blinds down = cabin crew work rate

And from a business perspective (legacy long haul) ……
Cabin crew work rate = hospitality expenditure

[handbag]

On a daylight flight BA Cabin Crew would not normally put the blinds down . If it is a night flight and the aircraft will be flying into daylight, then the WW Crew would generally wander through the cabin and ask passengers to either put their blinds down or do so before they fall asleep, so as everyone is not woken when the sunrises. If a pax chooses not to, Crew cannot force them to, but most do. If a blind is left open with someone asleep, Crew would normally either ask a pax nearby to try and close or ty and close with a rolled magazine. (Left BA 12 months ago, but this was the practice then on WW)

[DavidGordon10]

If it is my window it is my window blind. Centrally controlled blinds (as in the Boeing binliner) are a curse. Closing the blinds during a day flight is unphysiological.

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flyingdutchman1

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=949086]If it is my window it is my window blind. Centrally controlled blinds (as in the Boeing binliner) are a curse. Closing the blinds during a day flight is unphysiological.[/quote]

The latter bit may be true but I don’t follow the my, my, my bit. We are all travellers in an enclosed space, a little bit of courtesy goes a long way.

[MartynSinclair]

@SimonS1

[quote quote=949087]We are all travellers in an enclosed space, a little bit of courtesy goes a long way.[/quote]

How would you deal with – you are in the aisle seat – the window seat passenger opens the window blind to let the sun light in with 3 hours to go before landing . You ask very politely for the passenger to lower the blind, the passenger half lowers it as a courtesy, but the light is still flooding in… how would you deal with the situation?

I accept we need to be courteous in enclosed spaces, but how do you see the solution.

Bottom line is, one passenger wants the blinds open, the other wants them closed…..

Solution?

[Author]

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