Are planes of the future windowless?

A Boston company, Spike Aerospace, plans to build, by 2018, the S-512, a supersonic passengers jet that will complete the New York to London route in less than four hours.

The speed will be greatly increased by the lack of windows for passengers in the plane. According to the company, windows only add extra weight to planes due to all the supplementary reinforcements the plane needs to maintain cabin pressure while keeping windows intact. In addition, passengers already can’t see much through the existing windows.

Instead of windows, the S-512 will have screens on the walls of the plane, displaying either the sky, entertainment material, documents for meetings or other pieces of information that passengers would be able to control themselves.

A company representative noted that, within 20 years, no new airplane will be built with windows.

A Boeing pilot, on the other hand, takes on a different opinion. He says that: ‘We're not looking at going windowless. We've found that passengers want windows. Placing yourself in a sealed metal tube, flying faster than the speed of sound at great altitude with no spacial awareness would prove disturbing for most, and as a pilot, I can see huge safety issues.’

He added that windows can also be helpful in emergency situations when they allow workers to see inside the plane.