British Airways Passengers Endure 14-Hour Flight With Sunshine Blazing Through Windows After Dreamliner Malfunction
- Passengers on a ultra-long-haul 14-hour British Airways flight from Tokyo to London were left battling blazing sunlight after the Dreamliner’s electronic window dimming system failed across one side of the aircraft.
Passengers on an ultra-long-haul British Airways flight from Tokyo to London had to endure 14 hours of glaring sunshine streaming through the windows after the electronic window dimmer system malfunctioned on the entire length of one side of the aircraft.
“The automatic window dimmers on our side of the cabin were not functioning correctly, leaving us exposed to bright daylight for much of the flight,” one of the passengers who was on the flight explained in a Facebook post on a page dedicated to complaints about British Airways.
The passenger explained that the pilots and cabin crew knew the window dimmers weren’t working before the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departed from Tokyo Haneda and had even called engineers in an attempt to fix the problem.
Engineers investigated the issue but couldn’t get the dimmer switches working, so they devised a low-tech alternative to the high-tech window dimmer system by repurposing paper tray liners as mock window shades and sticking them over the windows with sticky tape.
With sunlight still steaming through the window, however, the passenger said she was forced to take out the safety card and stick that over the rest of the window in an attempt to get some rest.
British Airways flight BA6 departs Tokyo at around 1 pm daily and then usually flies eastbound over the Pacific Ocean before flying over Canada and the Atlantic Ocean before it reaches London.
As a result, the plane flies in bright daylight for much of the 14-hour flight, and it never gets truly dark outside.
Explainer: How Does the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Window Dimming System Work?
Unlike traditional manual window shades, all Boeing 787 Deamliners have an electronic window system that has proven pretty divisive with passengers.
Developed by Gentex, the dimming system uses electrochromic technology that sends an electric current through a special transparent gel that’s sandwiched between two panels within the window.
By increasing the voltage running through the gel, the window quickly transitions from fully transparent to dark. The window shades have five darkness settings ranging from 1, which is fully transparent, to 5, which is the darkest setting.
Even if the window dimming system had been working as designed, one of the biggest annoyances is that, in bright daylight, the darkest setting still doesn’t fully block out the light.
To sum up their experience succinctly, the passenger wrote on Facebook: “Just didn’t feel very premium at all,” before asking whether they would be entitled to any compensation.
Get a life people! You go and lie in the midday sun, burn like a lobster and a window shade not working gets your knickers in a twist! As Hailey Welch would put it: ” Hawk Tuah!”
I assume the ac was working did then not have pull down shades?? Guess not which I thought all planes did very odd to me
Clearly you don’t fly much.
Lol I didn’t know Harry Potter can be this idiot
Why what are you talking about, Harry Potter? I recall that the Wright Brothers had the same problem at Kitty Hawk. That and Orville’s luggage being sent to the wrong city!
Perfect response, Sir.
I think your brain is in a twist. So, ALL people lay in the sun for 10 – 13 hours a day. Or, if you drive, how about the blazing sun targeting you for a five hour trip.
Only bimbos lie in the sun to burn like a lobster. I guess you haven’t taken a long haul flight before or you would know how uncomfortable and bright the sun streaming in on you for 14 hours at 40,000 ft can be.
Besides the light and the heat, there is more UV content to the light at altitude, It’s not great for human skin.
Airline should reply:
“We apologize for our endeavors to fulfill our passenge agreement.
In future we shall ground any aircraft for less-than-premium features, at which point due compensation will accrued as you have prioritized.”
Flight departed 1pm-ish and she successfully endeavored a solution in tandem with the makeshift curtain.
She wouldn’t have an expectation of sleeping soundly by 2pm or much later, and the perfectly serviceable mats are usually under pax food. Was it sessy or AD worthy? Absolutely not. But in this day and age?
The court finds the priority of querying entitlement to compensation in this case, in particular on that platform, to be A Choice.
Surely that’s what eye masks are for ???
BA stopped offering eye masks to Economy passengers.
Would you have sat 14 hours with an eye mask around your face?
sometimes low tech is better. a regular window shade that you can physically pull down blocks ALL light. I also wonder what the extra cost is per window to put in these fancy automatic shades? And what is their service life before needing repair or replacement?
It is a curious investment, even more when the ubiquitous shades are deleted and the windows/seals etc adjusted.
Surely can’t be a warranty on such a thing, with the service use parameters?
Certainly not a covered part/system on personal hovs, lol
You are SO right. Too much money is being wasted on high teck things when low tech will do perfectly well.
200% agree !
Was everybody OK?
I was on the same flight on 8th April and had EXACTLY the same problem along with the same cure.
Seems a standard practice
Aaand that’s EXACTLY one reason I fly with an eye mask… I love the window shade opem for most of the flight, and that’s one solution I tell everyone… CARRY AN EYE MASK ON A PLANE!! THEY’RE SUPER CHEAP! As such, I also really don’t care for those around me who don’t properly prepare for long flights. This is one example of not being prepared.
I didn’t include that in my long rant of assumptions, but I sure thought it.
Failure to prepare for a flight and it’s time zone arrival shift is just that.
Window tints simply can’t be expected to ensure restful sleep.
Should’ve cancelled the flight and then the passengers would be complaining about that instead. Whingers!
It is a curious investment, even more when the ubiquitous shades are deleted and the windows/seals etc adjusted.
Surely can’t be a warranty on such a thing, with the service use parameters?
Certainly not a covered part/system on personal hovs, lol
You don’t make any sense.
Oh gasp you mean they had to see natural light? Those poor poor people. What does British Airways they they are transporting… plants? Seriously if getting some vitamin D from the sun is the worst thing that happens to you, you are seriously spoiled.
At least toilets were working with BA they usually first to be shut.. 8 hour diverted flight from Dubai with crap BA to London, the closed all the toilets.. said no drinks tea and coffee till London cross your legs… So I can go 14 hours to London, as long as toilet is open. Far worse on BA that the dimmers not working.
What a plane of moaners.
We used fly Air China full sun 11 hours 20 years ago window blind didn’t work … I used to do flights every 10 days for work…
Passengers these days a week bunch.
BA always expect something not working
*weak*
How is this even vaguely interesting? What drama!
It’s bad management that they don’t have a fail safe in place. Window blinds should be fitted as a backup so they are prepared for all eventualities. This is a very simple problem to fix. Even when the dimmer system is working properly it still lets some sunlight through. And when it isn’t working it lets all sunlight through. So something as simple as window blinds would do the trick. It’s often old school, low tech solutions that offer the best remedies.
There are ‘stickers’ available and loaded on-board to attach to windows in the event of failures such as these. However, these are insufficient in number to cope with the failure of an entire side of the aircraft unfortunately!
you can’t call them engineers tho,if a simple dimmer they can’t fix.
BA should refund your money because they knew it was not working properly. This technology needs to have a back up. Plan.
Just fly Business. Lay flat, close the door and pop on the complimentary eye mask. Problem solved. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Some people cant afford that you know.
I don’t understand those window dimmers at all. They’re incredibly slow to react to the dimming setting either way, and at full dimming, the sun looks like a purple ball.
It’s just a gimmick used to sell seats and planes. Manual shades are much better, more reliable and just work.
Last airline on earth would ever flight again. Failed too many times.
Exactly how many flights have you been on that failed?
who cares!
I always avoid taking flights with the electronic window dimming system such as the Boeing-787 Dreamliner because the windshield film of the electronic window dimming system blocks the GPS satellite signals and reduces the quality of the photos taken-through-window. It’s difficult to know the photo taken location because cellphone could not receive the GPS signals. Make boring air traveling even worse!
I can’t account for all inconveniences I have experienced such us non-working headphones jacks, broken tray latches, broken shades, dirty floors, absent of desired meal/snack options, non-existing leg room and so for. Yes I get it 14 h sunlight is annoying but ppl have to understand the contract promises to transport you from A to B. The airline can’t guarantee you would enjoy the flight. At least you did not crash landing, right? Just keep in mind that bad experiences make good stories to tell in the future.
Actually! What caused it was the cyber attack! We had no electric for 12 hours! So,,,,,,,,,,
Oh you poor delicate things! I’m an 80-year‐old widower with terminal cancer. Would you like to swap places?
When there are physical shades, that go up and down, in a long flight, it’s a hassle-free guarantee that once at cruising level altitude the sun glare won’t get to you.
Boeing is demonstrating it doesn’t have a fool-proof technology lately. They could have had these window-dimming shenanigans together with a REAL window blind.
I’m from Spain, and I’ve just lived a major disaster of no electricity, phone, internet, etc. for 12 hr down in earth. Thankfully I had a radio transistor, external batteries, a kitchen with gas and gravity water from the tank in my town.
Same is when you design a plane, can’t rely totally on technology, just have MANUAL BACKUPS!!!
There’s still flight attendants who scold passangers who want their window shades open when all the others are down. TOUGH LUCK!
MY POINT IS – Boeing was really stupid in not putting manual shades in their dreamliners. Just close the glare. The only regulations is that you have to lift them before landing. End of issue. Have a great day
Wow! No shades! Did the plane crash, catch on fire? Were you delayed hours upon hours? No food or beverages served due to the tragedy? I’m sure the toilets didn’t flush due to the sun! And to think… one passenger was “FORCED” to use her emergency briefing card! Oh, my, now that IS tragic!
Seriously? What a bunch of entitled. cry babies! Good grief.
First world problems…
US crap airplanes ….
Wow! When I think of all the sympathy I’ve been wasting on the Rohingya refugees and starving children in Sudan, it’s nice to get my moral compass adjusted in favor of people facing REAL tragedy!