An American Airlines passenger recently experienced a frustrating situation when they were assigned a window seat that lacked an actual window.
This unexpected discrepancy left the passenger seething with anger and sparked a discussion about the transparency of airline seating arrangements.
A frustrated passenger, known as RockingInTheCLE, posted pictures on Reddit showing a strange seating situation during their recent flight.
The photo was captioned simply as "No window in my window seat!"
Seated at the edge of a row, the passenger captured a selfie revealing an unconventional seating arrangement. Instead of a window adjacent to her, she faced a featureless wall.
She expressed her frustration in the caption: "I have never been on a flight where the window seat has no window! If my job didn't pay for this, I would be infuriated at having paid for no view. But right now, I'm just mildly infuriated."
The Reddit post received a significant response, accumulating more than 21,000 upvotes and eliciting 612 mixed comments.
Many users empathized with the passenger, acknowledging their frustration with such a seat.
One commenter humorously stated, "Behold the imaginary window, where your wildest dreams can come true! (Additional fee of $300 + service charge for this imaginary window)."
Another cleverly remarked, "When you select a window seat for the view, but the airline assumes you prefer abstract wallpaper."
Someone else joked, "Congratulations on discovering the air conditioning duct seat!"
Another shared their personal experience, expressing their anger after encountering a similar situation on their first flight, vowing to never choose the last row again.
One commenter highlighted the issue of transparency, stating, "The real problem lies in the lack of actual transparency."
Other Reddit users shared similar experiences and posted their own pictures on the platform.
Some individuals actually appreciated its unique features.
One passenger mentioned how it appeared to be an exceptionally comfortable seat for leaning to the side without the inconvenience of adjusting their shoulder and elbow to fit the window gap.
They even expressed a willingness to pay extra for such a seat.
Another person echoed this sentiment, stating their willingness to pay an additional fee for the windowless arrangement as well.
Alaska Air's Director of Fleet Engineering, John Melvin, shed light on the reason behind the existence of windowless seats.
According to Melvin, these seats are positioned in a specific area where Boeing installs air conditioning riser ducts.
These ducts run from the lower part of the aircraft, where the air conditioners are located, to the cabin ceiling where the air distribution ducts are situated.
As a result, the vertical ducts obstruct the installation of windows in that particular row on the left side of the aircraft.
