‘It’s my window’: Viral video sparks debate over who controls plane window seat shade

A video is sparking debate over who gets to control the plane window seat shade.

The now-viral video shows a woman battling with a child in the row in front of her over the airplane shade.

At least 16 million people have watched as the woman shooting the video opens her shade and a child in front of her closes it. The woman captioned the video “It’s my window.”

“I really enjoy looking at scenery from a plane. I also get a bit of claustrophobia when I’m not – when I can’t see outside the plane,” explained Umaymah Almas. “I did see that he had another window directly adjacent to him. So for that reason, that’s why I decided, no, I want to keep this window open. If that were to happen again, I mean, I’d react the exact same way.”

This isn’t the first time travelers have battled it out over making the flight bright.

“It’s my opinion that as the window seat occupant, I am the dictator of the window shade,” said one girl on TikTok.

Other passengers are also sharing their frustration on social media.

“I did open the shade both times, I’m a benevolent ruler but I just thought it was insane,” the Tiktoker said.

Then, there are some others who are also having a little fun.

But now the question poised is, who has the right to determine whether the shade goes up or down?

ABC News went to the head of the largest flight attendants union to find out.

“I think everybody thinks that they’ve got some sort of claim on that window and it’s understandable when you’re purchasing that window seat,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “Most people actually want to be considerate of people around them. So giving people a chance to respond in a positive way is really the best approach.”