This post made me wonder--since so many people seem to prefer aisle seats, do they even care if window seats, or windows, exist? I'd be very uncomfortable sitting in a windowless aluminum tube going hundreds of miles per hour through the air, but I notice that many people in airplanes don't look out the window at all.

I wouldn't fly in an aircraft in which I couldn't see out a window, at least somewhere (even if I had to walk forward in a cargo plane to find one). How many people out there are indifferent?

And on the subject of space, one of the costs of designing a passenger spacecraft is exactly this--the need to put in windows, which increase structural weight. This isn't just because the view is a large part of the experience--I suspect that many space passengers would be just as psychologically uncomfortable in a windowless space transport as they would in a windowless aircraft.

Oh, one more thing. It's very hard to get me into a glass elevator--there, I insist on not knowing what's outside. The difference is that one is a vehicle, and the other is part of a structure (I'm acrophobic).

[Update on Wednesday evening]

Just to clarify, I'm not asking which seat people prefer. I'm asking how important it is that the airplane has windows, regardless of whether or not you sit next to them.

Good question. Wish I had a good answer. I used to like sitting by the window, but I must admit I've become a progressively more nervous flyer over the last 5 years and dislike looking out of the windows until we're cruising.

The worst I've had is leaving Heathrow in a BA 747-400 when I've been in a rear facing BA business class seat. We must have been light as we pulled out at a hell of an angle and watching the takeoff and the climb, backwards, through the Economy Cabin windows was pretty peculiar.

Most of the routes I do now involve having to have the blinds down for pretty much the entire flight, so I'm either asleep, watching a movie or working. Windows become redundant then.

I'll still take my window seat. I'm terrified of heights, so seem to deliberately put myself where I have to experience them.

Planes are better than glass elevators though.

I like sitting by the window, but I just don't fit in most airline seats anymore. I have pretty broad shoulders, and the only comfortable place for me to sit is on the aisle. The window seat is passable, since I can kind of twist my torso and get out of the way of the person in the middle, but that middle seat is torture. If I sit with my shoulders back and relaxed, I overflow into the personal space of the seats next to me, and keeping my shoulders hunched and pulled together the whole way is painful.

Hmmm...

Window seats are cool because you can see what you're flying over, and if you're near the wing, you can watch the flaps do their thing.

But on an aisle seat, you can usually stretch one of your legs out in the aisle, instead of having to jam them under the seat in front of you. And if you're in an aisle seat in the front of the plane, that means you get off the plane quicker at your destination.

I find myself preferring the latter nowadays.

Flying in the dark of night, in cloudy weather, is about as close as you can get to feeling like you're in an aluminum tube without actually being in a cargo plane. Personally, if I know I'm going to be awake, I prefer a window seat, because I enjoy watching scenery and/or city lights when I'm flying, and I usually get all of my bathroom needs taken care of before boarding. If I'm sleeping, I don't really care which seat I'm in, but aisle seats generally offer the most chances to be interrupted in-flight.

Living in the Midwest, and not in Chicago, I fly mostly puddle-jumpers, anyway, with one aisle, one window, and one window/aisle seat in each row, so it's not usually much of an issue.

When I go to sub-orbit, I'd like to be able to see where I'm at, and see the scenery. Going to the moon, I'd imagine I'd like to be able to see, but in that case, I wouldn't mind getting up and floating over to a viewing post, as it's a longer ride.

And I'm with you, Rand. I'm uncomfortable with glass elevators, too.

I like both window seats and glass elevators. However, I do like the convenience of aisle seats on long flights because you can get out of the seat without bothering anyone.

I notice that most people prefer aisle seats to the window seats. On Southwest (with open seating), you get on the plane and almost every aisle seat is taken, but you can get a window seat almost at the front of the plane.

With HD screens becoming so prevalent I don't see why they can't equip each seat with a display that you could switch between multiple cameras and get excellent views from several areas around the airccraft. In a spacecraft they could make an entire wall an HD viewscreen.

Greetings,

After years of flying in Military Transports, with no windows, I have no problem flying 'blind'. I just get a bit more sleep.

Regards.

"Planes are better than glass elevators though"

I too have a fear of heights but flying does not bother me.

The reason is my frame of reference is to the plane and not the ground. In a glass elevator, the elevator does not provide a suitable frame of reference so you still reference yourself to the ground.

I like a window seat. But, I once flew from Madrid Spain (Torrejon Air Base) to Mildenhall UK as a passenger in a C-5. The passenger section has ~80 seats, facing backwards, and if I recall correctly, ONE window. We all took turns. And, actually, I didn't mind at all.

I actually have to have a window seat. I get motion sickness very easily. The ascent and cruising is not really a problem, but I have to be able to see the horizon and ground during a descent, or else I get very queasy.

I also cannot go below deck on sailboats. (or even drink on a boat, which pretty much kills the whole point of being on a boat :-) )

I prefer window but usually opt for aisle because I hate having to crawl over two - six people to get to the head.

As a private pilot, flying on any airliner is just plain boring. The best seats on any plane are the ones up front. Sit anywhere else and you might as well be on a bus.

As a former paratrooper, I took quite a few rides on windowless transports. It wasn't as bad as it seems and once you're outside, the view was spectacular. There's nothing quite like hanging a thousand feet over the ground beneath a parachute. If you don't look up, you can almost believe you're flying like a bird (at least until the ground comes up to smite thee).

As I've gotten older and also post 9/11, I generally prefer aisle seats. Whether I have to go to the head or in an emergency, I don't like having to go over others to get out of my seat.

I've always preferred window seats, even when it makes no sense. If I'm sitting away from the window I end up craning my neck to see out.

Which, if I don't know the person(s) I'm sharing the row with, can make for some interesting interactions.

Prefer the aisle seat. I've done a fair bit of time in Air Force planes without windows and the disorientation on arrival was ... weird. Maybe it's me but the windows on commerical transports server a psychological purpose more than a 'gawk out the window' one.

> As a private pilot, flying on any airliner is just plain boring. The best
> seats on any plane are the ones up front.

And not just because they're forward-facing. Airline passenger windows are made of acrylic, instead of glass, to save money. Unless the acrylic surfaces are polished regularly (which they aren't), the optical quality of these windows is quite poor. Volcanic erruptions can put a lot of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, which reacts with the acrylic leading to a further decline in quality. (The airlines noticed a significant degradation after Mt. Pinatubo errupted.) The pilots, on the other hand, get good glass.

I prefer aisle, but when turbulence is bad, I've found the ability to look out a window to be helpful.

I prefer aisle seats. There's more leg room, less claustrophobia, and you have a better chance of surviving in an accident since you can evacuate a bit faster.

I'm acrophobic, and I always pick window if I have any choice at all, preferably near the wing, and preferably a CRJ/ERJ or a Boing Boing rather than some kind of MD-constant-AOA (seriously, do those things ever just fly level?).

Looking out the window is not only fascinating, but it keeps me from going into panic attacks when bumps occur. There's just something about constantly confirming that the ground is not getting bigger.

When I was little, I couldn't stand escalators and would even walk to a stairwell in a mall just to avoid them. I can handle them now, but I still loathe high-speed elevators, and glass elevators in tall towers have me gasping for breath.

Craziest elevator ever ridden--Gateway Arch. The lower parts aren't bad, going back and forth... but towards the top, you take off mostly sideways, at high speed. Ugh, that was not fun.

I always pick window if I have any choice at all, preferably near the wing...

That's interesting, because I find seats "near the wing" quite frustrating, because "near the wing" usually means "above the wing," which means that I don't have a view of the terrain below. I prefer to be ahead of or behind the wing. What is the basis for your preference?

Given my druthers I'll always take a window seat. I'd prefer it be in an emergency exit row, but it doesn't always work out that way in cattle class. I asked the friendly clerks if there was anything like a one or two day safety and emergency training session I could go through to ensure I always get an exit row. They said they'd get back to me...

As a strapping 6'4.5" lad with a one-yard inseam I'll take any leg room advantage I can get (and I'm exactly the guy they want in those seats). I did fly a bulkhead 777 flight that was nice but 13 hours...ugh. (Overall that one turned out to be a grueling 21 hour travel oddysey). After a particularly painful flight on a 767 to the Paris Air Show I decided to invest in an inflatable buttocks donut.

Can't do aisle. Folks and carts always smacking my legs and shoulders.

Someday...
first class
...someday.

Yes, windows are necessary.

If there isn't one by each seat, there has to be an opportunity for everybody to go to the window(s) and look out.

At this point in space travel the airliner experience is irrelevant. A plane is something you endure to get where you're going, and it's easier to endure on the aisle. Look at it this way: an intercity bus has relatively small windows. A tour bus has great big ones. And Gray Line spends a lot of scratch on polish, too.

Screens? Bull. Half a million for a video game session?

When (if) we get to the point where the object of a space ride is to get to the other point, windows will become superfluous. Most people will be tapping away on their laptops, reading, sleeping, or m*b*ing anyway, just as they are on the plane today. But for now you need windows. Big ones. Replaced and/or polished regularly for the best possible view.

I know it's expensive. Sorry.

Regards,
Ric

I'd prefer a camera in the nose and a joystick. Zoomable of course.

I need the windows so I can wave at all the UFO's that go zooming by.