Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Not as unlikely as it sounds. The article talks about a "last minute aircraft change".
The vanishing Row 41 sounds like a 757, and the photo looks like one. TUI have a dozen or so 757s which they inherited, variously, from Britannia, Air 2000, British Airways and LTU.
I'd be willing to bet that they aren't all in the same configuration.
All of TUI's 757's have 41A-F normally, so they were either removed due to them being broken or some other urgent reason. The only difference in layout between some of them are at the front of the aircraft - Some have row 1, some have 2 front toilets, some have bulkheads, some don't. Provided Ops notified the relevant airport about the seats being unserviceable then they should be blocked off in the check-in system by that Airport for each flight that aircraft is operating. Even if the aircraft was changed at the last minute, the message should've got through from LTN to the Airport check-in / boarding staff. This to me sounds like a communication breakdown somewhere, they got checked into the seats and made it onto the aircraft. Then someone has made the decision to allow them to sit in the jump seats. I know TUI crew are generally quite strict on allowing this to happen so possibly was the Captains decision.
Secondly if the passengers were on spare jump seats at the back of the aircraft, they could've been moved to Row 12 jump seats whilst the service was on and the crew weren't using them, then return to the back galley for landing.