Have you ever found yourself looking out of a cabin window on an airliner, and wondered what was keeping you in - and the outside out - during your flight?

If you ask an aerospace engineer what their ideal airliner cabin window size and shape is, they might just tell you that the ideal airliner has no cabin windows. They’re a hassle to design and build, and they add to the maintenance and cleaning work required for an airliner.

But airlines know that a lot of their customers wouldn’t enjoy flying in a tube with no outside view, so windows in the passenger cabin have been a fixture since the earliest days of air travel.

With this Airline Time Machine podcast, let’s explore the role that airliner windows have, the many variations in window design over the years, and how a modern airliner window’s made. And, looking ahead, how might future airliner design change the windows we’ll find in airplanes.

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