An airline passenger took to social media to share a photo of a fellow traveler, asking, “What’s the etiquette here?” when it comes to controlling the window shade. The user wrote, “Entire cabin dark, FA [flight attendant] asks him to lower shade and he says ‘um no.'”
Users on the sub-Reddit forum “americanairlines” debated who has control of the window shade. “His shade, his choice,” one Reddit user wrote.
Another said, “Should’ve booked the window seat if you wanted to control the shade.”
“I always leave mine open. It helps with motion sickness. But if told to lower it I would,” another person wrote.
Former flight attendant and etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore told Fox News Digital that the person seated in the window seat controls the shade.
Fox News Digital reached out to the original Reddit poster for comment. Jacqueline Whitmore stated, “the person seated in the window seat controls the window shade.”
For safety reasons, the shade should always remain open for take-off.
Many users who commented on the Reddit thread said they were surprised that the flight attendant asked the passenger in the window seat to close the shade.
Other users said they felt the flight attendant was in the right. “Etiquette is to follow crew members’ instructions. That’s the only etiquette. Everything else is made up,” one person said.