American Airlines Passenger Shocked at What She Gets for ‘Window Seat’

A post about a plane passenger who was surprised to find that her window seat comes with a “non-existent view” has gone viral on Reddit.

An image of the seat was shared in a Reddit post titled “Window seat with no window” by Liz (user RockingInTheCLE), 45, who is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and works in IT for a global law firm. The post has had over 20,000 upvotes since it was first shared on March 10.

“I’ve never been on a flight where the window seat has no window!,” she wrote in the post. The image, captured on an American Airlines flight departing from Cleveland, shows a wall next to the passenger, who was in seat 12A on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Liz, who preferred not to disclose her last name, told Newsweek that she checked “a couple of seating charts online for that type of plane and none of them show that there is no window there.”

A spokesperson for American Airlines told Newsweek on Tuesday: “When customers select their seat via aa.com or the American Airlines app, they are prompted to review any special information prior to confirming their selection.

“For example, I was able to select the same seat for a flight tomorrow where the selection prompt appears in the app,” the spokesperson noted, sharing a screenshot of a seat booking page that shows a note beneath the seat 12A option saying “No window view.”

Liz told Newsweek: “Fortunately, it [the flight] was short because not having a window was very disorienting. I don’t sleep on planes, so I do enjoy looking out the window.”

Why Do Planes Have Windowless Seats?

All Boeing 737 aircraft come with a seat or two on the left side forward of the wing that offer either partial access to a window or no window at all, the Alaska Airlines website notes.

John Melvin, Alaska Airlines’ director of fleet engineering, explains: “That’s the spot where Boeing places the air conditioning riser ducts from the belly—where the air conditioners are located—to the cabin ceiling, where the air distribution ducts are at.

“The vertical ducts are located behind the passenger compartment sidewall panels and they prevent the installation of a window in one row on the left side. This is standard on all Boeing 737 aircraft, not just ours,” he added.

‘Imagination Window’

Liz said in the latest viral Reddit post: “If my job wasn’t paying for this [flight], I’d be super salty about paying for a non-existent view. But as it is, I’m just mildly infuriated.”

She told Newsweek that she didn’t ask the flight staff about her windowless window, as “they have more important things to do,” and “it was a full flight so there was nowhere to move to.”

The latest post has had some mixed reactions among Redditors.

Apprehensive_Bug_826 said: “It’s an Imagination Window, where anything you can dream could be true! (Imagination Window is an extra $300+service charge.)”

Soloact_ noted: “When you book a window seat for the views, but the airline assumes you’re more into abstract wall art.”

Son0fSanford wrote: “consider it a blessing, at least it can’t open midflight.”

Some said they’d prefer a windowless seat, such as _awwjay who wrote “More wall for use as a pillow that stays cold and goes BRRRRRRTR.”

Otherwise-Remove4681 agreed, saying “been doing so many long haul flights I’d wish there was no window and more surface to lean and work as pillow place.”

No_Sheepherder7447 noted: “Yeah this is an upgrade for any experienced traveler who is looking to sleep for most of the flight.”

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