Both. Maybe I’m not describing it right, but the air nozzles in most larger aircraft have been slightly adjustable for a long time. They are typically like a ball in joint socket you can point anywhere in its cone of motion, and that you can twist to open or close. This has been standard on flights for a really long time.
Newer flights have nicer versions of it, but some form of directional air nozzle has been around for a long time.
I’m aware of these nozzles, just saying that on the long haul flights I’ve been on these nozzles aren’t present at all… So I’m kind of surprised they are present in general, on larger planes.
Odd. There’ve been nozzles on all my flights in the past few years. Varies by partner carrier I imagine, but since most of my routes are using what are ultimately domestic US aircraft, that’s what I’ve experienced.