United And Delta Sued Over Window Seats With No Windows, But Are Windows Worth It?
Are windows that big of a deal, or other seating battles to wage?
Certain things in life seem to divide society more or less down the middle. Would you rather be hot or cold? Is black licorice any good?
Then we have what might be the most polarizing of all: would you rather sit at the window or on the aisle when flying?
Because no one short of a complete psycho would pick a middle seat.
Well, I know of a few folks who are hard-core window seat people, and they were none-too-pleased to have paid for their preferred seat placement only to climb aboard the ol' metal bird and find that there was no window at their window seat.
According to Reuters, two class-action lawsuits — one in San Francisco against United Airlines and one in Brooklyn against Delta — have been filed seeking millions in damages for people who wound up getting hosed out of window seats.
The suits specify that this was an issue on Boeing 737, Boeing 757, and Airbus A321 airplanes, which have some seats along the outside of the fuselage that don't have windows because of air conditioning ducts or other components that are in place.
Hey, whatever is going to keep that big hunk of metal in the sky and also moderately comfortable, but the rub is that, at least according to the suits, Delta and United do not specify which seats these are. This means that those window seat fans who pay for the privilege of the window only learn that they're windowless upon boarding.
But is not having a window that big a deal?
Some people will say yes, but here's why those people are wrong.
Getty Images
The Window And Control Thereof Is So Far Down My List Of Flying Priorities
I get the frustration, but I'm not all wound up about it. I get being upset about not having a window, but you also paid to only have one person next to you, which, if you ask me, is way more valuable than a window.
Personally, I'm more of an aisle guy. You can sneak a little extra leg room and — because I'm such a gentleman — I'd much rather people disturb me so they can use the bathroom, than have it work in reverse.
For many, the window is about control, which I get too, but while you're focused on the window, I'm going to assert my armrest dominance.
I can take or leave a window, but I get as territorial as a silverback gorilla when it comes to the armrest. The second I board, if that armrest is up, it's coming right down. I like a clearer line of demarcation.
However, those armrests on either side of the middle seat are kind of a neutral zone. If I've pissed off the universe enough to be assigned a middle seat, I make it my business to annex every inch of those things. The least my fellow passengers can do is let me have those.
Window guy gets the window, aisle guy gets a little bonus legroom when drink service isn't happening (AKA: Poor Man's Business Class), so the middle seat gets to put their elbows out.
However, if this suit pans out and everyone starts getting paid millions for getting duped out of windows, I'm a window guy.
I've always been a window guy; now pay up.