Why Plane Window Blinds Have to Be Open During Takeoff and Landing

Love bagging the window seat on planes? It's exciting to watch the world below fade away as the aircraft takes off with the window blinds open. However, those blinds, or shades, do more than allow you to soak in scenic views and are crucial for flight safety. Read more: Which Airlines Have the Best (or Worst) Fees? Professor Kivanc Avrenli, a civil engineering/aviation expert from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, told Newsweek: "Keeping window blinds open during taxiing, takeoff, and landing allows both cabin crew and passengers to monitor external conditions during these critical stages of flight." According to the latest Airline Safety Performance Report released in February by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2023 was "the safest year for flying by several parameters." The "all accident" rate was reported to be at "0.80 per million sectors" in 2023 (one accident for every 1.26 million flights), marking the lowest rate in over a decade. Read more: How to Choose a Travel Credit Card There were no fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft last year and the fatality risk improved from 0.11 in the past five years (2019 to 2023) to 0.03 in 2023. "At this level of safety, on average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident," the IATA report said.

Why Keep Plane Window Blinds Up During Takeoff and Landing?

Dan Bubb, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who is a historian and former airline pilot, told Newsweek that "having the window shades up will help the flight attendants quickly assess the situation outside of the airplane." For example, if an engine on one side of the plane is on fire, then flight attendants will make sure that passengers can safely and quickly evacuate the aircraft on the opposite side of the plane. "This has been fairly consistent since passenger planes were made with window shades," Bubb said. Read more: Learn More About Baggage Fees Charged by Each Airline The former pilot also noted that in the event of an emergency where passengers must evacuate the plane, if the window shades are up, it won't take as long for passengers to adjust their eyes to the light or darkness outside. "This will enable them to evacuate faster and avoid other passengers and objects while getting away from the plane," he said.

Is It Required by Law to Keep Plane Window Blinds Up?

Avrenli said that keeping window shades open during taxiing, takeoff and landing is "not mandated by law," adding that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "allows this to be up to the discretion of individual airlines to enforce this practice." While most domestic airlines do not require blinds be left up during takeoff and landing, "interestingly enough, it is recommended in cabin crew training manuals," he said. For example, the International Civil Aviation Organization Doc 7192 Part E-1 (1996) and Doc 10002 (2014) "advise that cabin crew should ensure window blinds are open during critical flight stages such as taxiing, pushback, etc," Avrenli noted.

What Happens if Plane Window Blinds Are Kept Down?

Avrenli explained that if the window blinds are closed during takeoff and landing, "they obstruct essential visibility for passengers and cabin crew." This can cause cabin crew to "miss important information from passengers about external issues that are not visible from crew stations," such as smoke or fire on the engine, icing on the wing, wing contamination or a flat tire. Bubb added that if the shades are down, it will also take longer for passengers to adjust their eyes to the outside, making it "more difficult for them to evacuate and get away from the plane while trying to avoid bumping into other passengers and objects." Do you have a travel-related question, dilemma or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.