[JohnHarper]

[quote quote=774658]Tried watching a movie with eye shades on not very effective.

[/quote]

The better airlines allow you to adjust the brightness of the screen and so there is no reason there for closing the blinds.

[handbag]

Have had a brief scroll through the threads. Don’t want to get into a what is right or wrong, but here are the facts for BA.

BA Crew have never ever been asked to put blinds down to save fuel.

BA ask us to put them down on long haul (don’t know about short haul) after the pax have disembarked. This is supposed to be to keep the cabin cool on the ground. We are required to do whether it is in Hong Kong and 80 or LHR and minus 4. Why we have to do when it is freezing outside , I will never know. This is why you will see the majority of blinds down when you board. Some places , we put the all down before we get off and the cleaners get on and open them all.This has been happening for several years now.

There is no requirement for pax blinds to be up or down for take of and landing.

Door blinds must be up for take off and landing.

Crew should never ask paxs to put blinds down on a daylight flight.

Crew will normally ask pax to put blinds down on a night flight, so that the rest of the pax are not disturbed by the sunrise. If there is not going to be an early sunrise before landing, then we do not bother asking. As a courtesy to the rest pax, the majority do, as the sun can sometimes rise very early on a night flight depending on where we have left. As the majority want to sleep on a night flight, this is not normally a problem.

Crew cannot force a pax to do this and as a Crew member, would not ever consider trying to do so.

[FDOS_UK]

Interesting, Handbag.

Your comment about the cleaners raising the blinds strikes me – it must be difficult to do a decent cleaning job (especially at the speed they have to work) without natural light, which tends to show more. Maybe a case of accidental adversaries?

Also, I suppose closing the blinds does make quite a bit of difference on hot days (I experienced this a lot in summer, in the middle east and the radiation effect of the sun on the open windows is noticeable (and unpleasant).

Closing the window blinds, when there is an early sunrise, is IMO reasonable. If someone has direct sun shining in their eyes, I’d also lower my blind to stop that, though I usually try to pick a seat on the side of the aircraft that is in shade, so that’s unlikely to be me – and on long haul, I prefer an aisle seat in the middle block, so I get unfettered aisle access.

[canucklad]

Cheers for the info handbag…..
Your point about the early sunrise is indeed relevant,allowing people to sleep.
Yet,it’s one of those most fantastic sights and pleasures you’re able to enjoy because you’re flying.
Especially experiencing that weird and wacky phenomenon when flying from YVR to Europe ,when the timing of the Sun,the aircraft and the earth’s rotation all come into perfect sync, when the left hand side of the aircraft is bathed in sunshine and the right is blanketed in darkness.
Fortunately I can’t sleep when travelling in Y, so have wondered at our planet’s magnificence umpteen times whilst travelling over the pole.

[handbag]

On each night flight, I always make a mental note of the landing time and when the sun will likely be appearing. From a Crews point of view the perfect scenario is when we land approx 2-3 hours after the sun comes up. It works well, as the natural light wakes the pax and we don’t have to ask anyone to close them and the majority get a good nights sleep and everyone is happy.

The worst scenario is when it comes up about 5 hours before landing and majority want to sleep. One bright window, can wake up so many pax. People could wear eyeshade, but most don’t and are not aware of how bright until the sun comes up.

[Ahmad]

@handbag,

Thank you for giving the crew’s perspective on this highly charged issue.

[quote quote=775387]On each night flight, I always make a mental note of the landing time and when the sun will likely be appearing. From a Crews point of view the perfect scenario is when we land approx 2-3 hours after the sun comes up. It works well, as the natural light wakes the pax and we don’t have to ask anyone to close them and the majority get a good nights sleep and everyone is happy.

The worst scenario is when it comes up about 5 hours before landing and majority want to sleep. One bright window, can wake up so many pax. People could wear eyeshade, but most don’t and are not aware of how bright until the sun comes up.

[/quote]

This is where the 787 shades would be really handy. Rather than closing the blind as in other planes, the shades could be darkened to the desired level so that the brightness is not bothersome.

I also have a question for you. I distinctly recall, circa late eighties / early nineties, BA crew requiring all blinds to be up for takeoff and landing citing IATA rules when asked why. Is my memory failing me already or was there such a policy in vogue then?

[handbag]

Sorry although been flying since mid 80,s I cannot remember. We have a never ending run of changes and updates,trying to keep up to date with all of them is difficult. Every time we check in for a flight there are numerous pages of updates. Just had a quick check and there were 16 notices in Sept, 10 in Oct and 6 so far in Nov.sometimes it is a drastic change of policy and others just a rearrangement of wording.

I do know that some decisions are Airline choice and others are legalities. As far as I am aware, currently some airlines insist all blinds are open, but BA do not require pax blinds to be open for takeoff and landing.

[Cashsuds]

It’s plain simple. Keep the blinds open on take off or landing to observe whether the plane is in danger as these are the most critical times of the plane’s operation.
Close the blinds when cruising as there is nothing that you can observe up 10 – 11 kms up there. In fact instead of getting your dose of sunlight up there in the rarified atmosphere is a misnomer. The uV rays are much stronger than on the earth’s surface and more likely to cause skin and eye damage.
Reset your biological clock on landing !!!

[MrMichael]

Cashsuds, I disagree totally. One gets marvellous views in the cruise sometimes. Some of the more memorable ones for me that stick in my mind from 35,000 feet are London, The Greek Islands, Mount Everest and Australia’s red centre including Ayers Rock (sorry Uluru). From up there I realise how absolutely wonderful our world is, and how inconsequential we really are.

[Ahmad]

I completely agree with @MrMichael, just looking at the clouds can be breathtaking. When one goes high enough and sees the curvature of the Earth, it puts a totally different perspective on the petty things one bickers or cribs about all the time. Sorry @Cashsuds, but I have always found daytime flights to be very cheerful and uplifting.

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=775681]It’s plain simple. Keep the blinds open on take off or landing to observe whether the plane is in danger as these are the most critical times of the plane’s operation.
Close the blinds when cruising as there is nothing that you can observe up 10 – 11 kms up there. In fact instead of getting your dose of sunlight up there in the rarified atmosphere is a misnomer. The uV rays are much stronger than on the earth’s surface and more likely to cause skin and eye damage.
Reset your biological clock on landing !!!

[/quote]

I don’t believe that UV rays (of a harmful frequency) will pass through the windows, but if one is worried about radiation, then unfortunately you need to stop flying as the fuselage does not prevent X rays getting through.

[Ahmad]

@FDOS you are absolutely right about the UV rays not passing through the windows. My glasses (which sense UV rays) don’t darken in a plane even when I am peering out of a window.

[canucklad]

For me the enjoyment of clouds isn’t looking down on them its flying through them.
It’s at this point as the wings and engines slice through the fluffy particles of H2O that you get a true sense of the speed you’re actually travelling at.

Inside the cabin the crew amble up the aisle, whilst outside ……….whoooosh

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=775725]@FDOS you are absolutely right about the UV rays not passing through the windows. My glasses (which sense UV rays) don’t darken in a plane even when I am peering out of a window.

[/quote]

A quick google suggests you are wide of the mark there.

Have a check of the cancer research website.

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=775737]

Ahmad wrote:

@FDOS you are absolutely right about the UV rays not passing through the windows. My glasses (which sense UV rays) don’t darken in a plane even when I am peering out of a window.

A quick google suggests you are wide of the mark there.

Have a check of the cancer research website.

[/quote]

Simon, I guess you chooses your expert.

My comment was based on research by CERN.

https://cds.cern.ch/record/1214725/files/PH-EP-Tech-Note-2009-003.pdf

[Author]

Posts