WHBM

I'm sure we've all seen the pax who read their newspapers through the cabin crew briefing. And for those in the emergency exit row, if they show such a disregard for the safety instructions, the cabin crew could always reseat them elsewhere.

But now some airlines seem to see the emergency exit row as a revenue stream rather than an additional responsibility to fellow travellers. Both Virgin Atlantic and BMIBaby have started charging extra for seats there. So what do you do if the pax is non-cooperative about things ? If they've paid their money is that it ?

Anyone know the CAAs view on this ?

XL ONE

At Excel passengers sat in emergency exit rows are given a brief awareness briefing by a crew member. Personally I always make sure they take it in and I ask if they are happy with what i've said.

Crew still have the authority to move any passenger they feel is unsuitable as an ABP. This is stated on the forms for booking the extra leg room, noted in the brochure and explained by call staff. With some unsuitable passengers, we re-seat them for take off/landing but allow them the extra room during the cruise.

eal401

At 6' 5", could I threaten one of these airlines with some sort of discriminatory action if they tried charging me for a exit row seat? I suspect not.

As SLF, I am happy with the responsibility of being seated at said row, plus I always watch the safety briefings as a courtesy to the crew as much as for the safety aspects.

Ckin Gal

i work to the idea that if someone asks for an exit seat then we will say it's £x. it's then up to them. If someone is tall then if we have exits still free we put pax in them as long as they are polite. although this is not exact company policy

Mr A Tis

Most of the Uk boys are at it, My Travel, Monarch, Thomas Cook, Britannia, Baby etc charging a typical £15 e/w for an exit seat.
I have to say, I've seen some pretty unsuitable people sat in these rows - but hey they've paid their 15 quid.
Without doubt, these seats should be given to the most suitable pax.
Exit rows are there for safety - not for airlines to squeeze an extra few pounds out of the punters.
I too would be interested in the CAAs view on this. Is anyone from the CAA monitoring the use of these rows???

bakerloo

I hope it does not come to this, but the only time something will be done is after an accident or incident where it is shown that the person sitting in the emergency exit row was unsuitable.
And that will take some proving, especially where money is concerned.

PAXboy

I think that Bakerloo has it about right, humans almost only learn when there has been death and destruction - and a court case.

I was impressed when travelling with SA Airlink in their J41s that I was personally checked about the exit and my responsibilities on each sector. In this country, when in the exit row, I cannot recall the last time it was drawn to my attention.

Yesterday, I was discussing this very subject with a fellow pax after the briefing and during taxi. He was Australian and spoke of a long haul when he had sat in the exit row and was well able to handle the door. He was turned out of his seat - before departure - and a woman with infant in arms was placed in it. This was the start of a trans-Pacific to South America and he found himself in the middle seat of the central block of five, he was not pleased!!

BUT he knew that, in an emergency, a woman is not going to place her infant on the seat and say, "Just a moment darling, whilst mommy dearest opens this heavy door and then I'll pick you up before all these lovely people trample us into the carpet."

Naturally, she will stand there with her baby in her arms and block the exit and I would not expect her to do anything other than protect her child. The crew must prevent this. I shall have to take a more careful look at exit row passengers.

As for the CAA pro-actively reading these forums and looking out to see what is being said? No. Even if they had the inclination, they will not have the time. We will have to take the time to write to them.

Flightmapping

I'm certainly not tall enough to claim "special needs", but would gladly pay £15 for more legroom on any sector above about 2 hours. Isn't this the whole point of the Premium Economy seats?
Compared to the extra you pay for these, £15 is a bargain. With regards to the safety aspects, yes I agree you shouldn't have a mother & toddler there, but has anyone added up all the time spent listening to safety briefings v the number of lives they've actually saved? The irony for me is that the seemingly most dangerous flight I've ever taken - to Saba - had virtually no safety briefing.

crewboi83

would just like to point out that if you are over 6ft 3 (i think, could be taller) than you dont have to pay for exit seats... if u state your height when booking your holiday the info should be passed to the airline and they can look into it.
Also, if u are to book the "extra leg room" seats in the travel agent, they charge you the same price as the airline do at check in, there is only a hand full that do this.... i no TCX do, AMM do (sorry... FCA NOW!! lol) MYT mite (i think) and i know that BY deffinatly DO NOT!

I have been a team leader for a handling agent on charter flights for 3 yrs, left to be crew but returned to the ground for the winter, and if u were over 6ft 3 i wud never charge for xtra leg room seats!

also, if u paid for pre booked seat, u only pay the difference between the exit price, and prebooked price, so if u paid £5 per person for booking ya seat, ud only pay £10 per seat!! not bad i dont think, worth it on say a TFS, LPA etc.... but not really worth it on PMI's ALC's!!

WHBM

XL ONE:

If you get an in-flight problem and an unscheduled diversion I would have thought the cabin crew have more than enough to do without having to play musical chairs with unsuitable exit-row pax, especially as you are probably Seatbelts On from the occurrence of the problem through to the landing. Are you saying this has made it into SOPs ?

PAXboy:

Both FlyBe and Easy, at least, do this; more important for low costs with open seating, a crew member standing by the exit during boarding and briefing each arrival in turn. Unfortunately on a recent Easy flight once the cabin was closed up and the crew went to prepare for departure an unsuitable (OK, my judgement) pax moved forward to a vacant exit row aisle seat. Sometimes you can't win.

barbiegirl

just done a flight and on gets a guy on crutches assigned to an emergency exit row because he told check in staff he needed room to stretch his leg. i moved him and he wasnt happy , and i left him where he was for the rest of the flight because it would have been too much messing in case of unscheduled diversion etc. as crew, i will move anyone i dont think is suitable to sit in one of these seats whether theyve paid for it or not. They can take up the issue of a refund with the airline later, but fact is when they book the seat they are asked questions as to their suitability and yes, people do lie. BUT the most important thing is, if something does happen, it is this persons responsibility to open the exit and get people out, and if i think 80 year old annie, or mr bad back cant do it, then they are not sitting there. this may sound harsh but its what ive been trained to do, as the ultimate authority on who sits there will come down to crew.

Jerricho

This really boils my p*ss. Emergency exit seats should be allocated to able bodies persons, it's not rocket science.

I had a buddy of mine who once tried to secure one by claiming he had hurt his knee while on roller-blades and needed to stretch his leg out. He was really peeved when he was told no, for obvious reasons (big-time backfire ). I get annoyed when I get on a jet (I'm 6'2"), after having very politely asked if any emergency/bulkhead seats are available, only to be told they have been allocated.............to a 65 year old lady who has checked in through the web-site the night before. IMHO, that's wrong.