Fact or Fiction: Window Blinds up for Landing?

Real World Aviation
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Hello AvGeeks of the IFC!

Scrolling through my daily aviation news feed, I came across this:

Now, I have never encountered this in the US, flying very often. I also understand that this article is from the UK so maybe the regulations are different there, however, I have flown in the UK 4 times and never seen this.

The reason for making passengers close/open their windows is so that their eyes can adjust as most planes will try to evacuate in under 90 seconds which isn’t nearly enough times for your eyes to adjust. This is also why airlines dim the lights before takeoff and landing at nighttime.

Edit 1: So far, it seems that this is required in China and the UK, but not in the US or Canada. However, many artices make it sound like common-practice everywhere. Thanks @xsrvmy!

Claim:

Passengers are required to open their window blinds for landing due to regulation.

The Research:

Fact:

“It is as per the International Civil Aviation regulations. You are asked to open the window shades for security as well as safety reasons.” - Deepak Ojha Article

“The blinds have to be open during take-off and landing.” - Schipol Newsroom Article

“It’s a CAA regulation that airplane window blinds have to be up during take off and landing” - Choose Directions Article

Fiction:

“No federal rules govern the use of window shades during a flight. For safety reasons, airlines require that windows be open during takeoff and landing. Beyond those brief periods, however, each airline sets its own policy.” -Ed Perkins Article

“Cabin crews insist the window shades are open.” - Tal Fox Article

" But making passengers close shades before takeoff? ‘I can think of no sensible safety reason for doing that,’ Braithwaite said." - Sid Lipsey Article

“Will need to recheck on this, but apparently sometimes in Phoenix, crew require passengers to close windows on taxi/takeoff in order to maintain the temperature in the aircraft’s cabin, especially in summer months. I believe this primarily applies to the CRJs.
I don’t believe it applies for landing…” - @Ishrion

My comment: I can confirm this, as it is something that happens on CRJs and Dash-8s in the warmer months.

Who requires this?

Airlines that require this
  • Air New Zealand
Countries that require this
  • China
  • United Kingdom
Credits

Do you know anything about this topic?

Qualified responses will be added to either fact or fiction, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide. I looked into FAA and ICAO regulations extensively, but could not find anything.

PSA: Please do not argue and have a mature discussion.

7 Likes
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Will need to recheck on this, but apparently sometimes in Phoenix, crew require passengers to close windows on taxi/takeoff in order to maintain the temperature in the aircraft’s cabin, especially in summer months. I believe this primarily applies to the CRJs.

I don’t believe it applies for landing…

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I have encountered this on the ground in Horizon Q400 aircraft, but this is only when parked I believe.

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Am I mistaken, or is this listed as both fact and fiction?

Also the thing @ishrion mentioned with the window shades seems to be listed as fictional after being determined to be true, I’m kinda confused…

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Thanks I misedited something. One sec…

Edit: @KPIT I fixed it. Thanks for catching it. As for what @Ishrion said, his statement proves the claim stated at the top fictional.

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In China the pre-takeoff and landing announcements always said raise windows shades. In Canada I has basically never heard this.

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I have read online that it seems China and the UK are the ones with a law.

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BTW they only thing I’ve heard about window shades is allowing you to adapt to the outside lighting faster (along with dmming cabin lights). Normally this is inthe context of an emergency evacuation, but China uses remotes stands a lot so that could be a reason.

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Yes, this is the reason for making passengers close their windows. I saw this a lot during research. This article is about if it’s a law or not, but I will definitely add this for context.

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You meant open right?

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They are open for daytime and closed for night. It can definitely go either way. Check out some of the articles that the Fact and Fiction quotes come from for more information.

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I’m not sure if its law, but on Air New Zealand window shades have to be up for takeoff and landing.

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Okay. I am going to make a list of airlines and countries that require shades be open/closed. Thanks for your help!

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I’ve seen this rule be strictly enforced on international flights on American carriers, but on domestic I rarely see it enforced.

How I want to be when I have a isle seat…

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From personal experience in Germany, it highly depends on the airline and flight time.

Flying very often during the night I have had such announcements regularly, but nonetheless there were flights were only the dimming of the lights was explicitly referenced to via PA.

Often the FAs ask passengers to put up the shades during their final cabin check, so that could be one of the reasons you didn’t notice it and is one of the reasons why it’s not always part of the PAs.

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