Large Pax in Exit Rows
 

Recently flew U.S. domestic on a 738. On both legs at least one of the exit rows/window seats contained obese passengers, who clearly purchased those seats for the extra room. The only screening the airline required was to have each exit row passenger verbally acknowledge a willingness to participate in exit row emergency duties.

I’m skeptical that a 300+ lb. woman or a 400+ lb. man could perform the overwing exit door duties, much less fit through an overwing exit door, at least using the technique shown on the safety placard.

Curious what other folks have seen on other domestic or international flights.

BFSGrad
I got in trouble for comments on crew recently, so I am staying well away from this, but would tend to agree with your reasoning. I would get your Tin / Kevlar Hat if I were you !

Cheers
Mr Mac

BFSGrad,

No need to get your tin hat, you are right. Airlines should only allow reasonably fit persons to sit in these seats. While I understand the wish for personal comfort, the distinct possibility of impeding the escape of other passengers should be the overriding consideration. Safety comes way before comfort.

Now I had better don my tin hat and flak jacket!!

I think production of a professional pilots licence should get you priority to sit in an emergency exit row seat, at no extra cost!

Or just your PPRuNe membership details maybe?

On a Virgin flight from Melbourne to Brisbane last month and I was in the aisle of an exit row. Two largish ladies next to me took nil interest in the emergency procedures and I doubted my ability to help them, from the aisle, to open the door. My best bet was the door to my right - guy in the adjacent aisle seat was taller than myself, younger and seemingly stronger. Bad news, in the window seat was …. before I could note a description he was moved and replaced by an airline staff member - good. Big guy in the exit row right in front of me requested a seat belt extension and that was enough for him to be moved elsewhere. 2 out of 3 wasn’t bad.

In the old days check-in staff would scan the passengers for the fittest exit row candidates. Kiosks have lost this capability so the obese and broken leg crowd moved in.

I think the govt governing bodies are (for the most part) delinguent in monitoring this aspect of safety. They have given in to commercial pressure - yet again.

If there is loss of life or serious injury claims due to blocked emergency exits, the CEOs will blame the CC and not themselves for having changed the rules and not instructing staff in the "Your safety is our prime concern".

For UK airlines, needing an extension seatbelt is an automatic disqualification from being seated in an emergency exit row. So there are limits to how “big” a passenger seated here can be before they are required to move. But paid seating or not, I would hope our cabin crew aren’t afraid to move people as required, for whatever reason they feel prevents people from being seated there.

When I was younger,slimmer,fitter etc etc I quite often was offered an exit seat,or once (on Meridiana) the 'Security Seat' - which was very nice for flying Bologna to Sicily :)
Alitalia went on strike and the originally booked Gatwick to Sicily eventually became Lauda Air (Cessna Citation ?) to Bologna and then the next day Meridiana to Sicily,the return flight was more normal using a DC9 :)..

Flew Sydney to Brisbane on Qantas a month ago. Woman in her 60’s seated in an exit row. That was fine, but she was sitting next to her father (she called him “Dad”). He was wearing hearing aids but she still had to shout otherwise he could not hear her. I watched all this from the row behind and confidently expected them to be moved once the cabin crew noticed. He paid no attention to the emergency exit briefing, and I doubt he was aware it was happening. But he was not asked to move.

As an aside is there a requirement for all emergency exit rows to be occupied? Just last week flying from Rhodes to Stockholm with the wife and daughter we were seated immediately behind an exit row.

Borading completed and doors closed the exit row in front of us was empty. I moved there swiftly to get us more room, but was surprised that the crew had not done anything about it.