Was I right or wrong?

[Justinf]

I would like some feedback from forum members on something that happened a fortnight ago.
Flying DJ from BNE-SYD at 11am on a Sunday morning, I checked in at the kiosk to be allocated seat 5B. I prefer an aisle and with the aircraft full, I went to the priority service lane (being a silver member) and asked the check-in staff member if there were any aisle seats. He gave me an exit row seat, which I was happy with, I think in 14C.
On taking my seat I notice a very, very large woman in 14B next to me. She was so large, she needed a seatbelt extender and she spilled very much onto my space. I am not a small person myself. I am 6'1" and and broad shouldered but not what you would call obese by any means.
I noticed the woman's husband was next to her on the window side and he was very small and slim.
Not wanting to spend 75-minutes with half a seat, I politely suggested to the couple that maybe they could swap seats (therefore meaning that the husband would absorb the woman's 'largeness' instead of me). They refused and I spent the flight in a very uncomfortable position in half a seat with the woman snoring loudly (totally different issue and unavoidable). Totally fine. I asked, they refused...end of story.
My question is, why would the very large woman be allocated an exit row and was my request selfish or reasonable?
My wife thinks I was selfish, but others I have spoken to say my request was reasonable.
I am prone to selfishness on occasions and was wondering whether frequent flyers think that I was being a cough. Feedback would be appreciated as if I am faced with the same situation again, I want to know whether what I did was right or wrong.
Please be aware, I was as polite as possible in asking the couple to switch seats and accepted their refusal and made no issue out of it after that.

 

[yohy?!]

Don't think you were wrong - obviously this woman is not going to be much use in an exit row and probably shouldn't have been seated there. She also has no right to impinge on your space. Good on you having a go at asking them to move, some people just have have no common courtesy (but that's a whole other thread)

 

[blackcat20]

I thought if a passenger required a seat belt extender then they weren't allowed to sit in the exit row?

I don't think it was wrong to ask, but I would have maybe spoke to an FA...

 

[Justinf]

Don't think you were wrong - obviously this woman is not going to be much use in an exit row and probably shouldn't have been seated there. She also has no right to impinge on your space. Good on you having a go at asking them to move, some people just have have no common courtesy (but that's a whole other thread)

Thanks for the feedback.
I considered asking the FA if they could move me (hopefully to PE as the aircraft was full), but just decided to put up with it. It wasn't like it was a 10-hour flight or anything.

 

[Justinf]

---

I thought if a passenger required a seat belt extender then they weren't allowed to sit in the exit row?

I don't think it was wrong to ask, but I would have maybe spoke to an FA...

I will stand corrected, but I swear she had a seatbelt extender. I am not 100% sure as I boarded late(ish) and sat down next to her. It is quite possible she did not have an extender. She was so large, perhaps I assumed and assumed too much?

 

[muppet]

I would have asked the flight attendents she be moved as it is actually against the "Requirements" of sitting there. Edit: But I'm selfish too

From qantas.com:

Requirements of Exit Row Seats

In order to sit in an Exit Row Seat, you must:

• be at least 15 years;
• be able to understand and carry out instructions;
• not be travelling with someone that needs your assistance in an emergency;
• not have any permanent or temporary impairment, for example, deaf, hearing impaired, blind, vision-impaired, any strength or mobility limitation, intellectual impairment or be travelling with a service dog;
• be able to check outside conditions and react to cabin crew commands;
• be able to reach, open, lift and throw out the 15kg (33lb) exit door in an emergency;
• acknowledge the exit row briefing given by cabin crew once onboard the aircraft;
• be willing to assist in the unlikely event of an emergency;
• not be seated with an infant; and
• not require the use of an extension seat belt.

 

[markj23]

Whilst the size of the woman in general doesn't mean she may or may not be able to help out in an emergency situation, however looking at Conditions of Sale | Virgin Australia the last line clearly says "Not require the use of an extension seat belt"

So they were in breach of there own policies by allowing the woman to sit there

Note: i am also large(ish) - i dont understand how an extension seat belt could somehow restrict your ability to undo it and therefor assist quickly?

 

[Justinf]

As I can't be certain about the seat-belt extender, let's assume she didn't need one.
My main gripe was that as they were a couple, was it was unreasonable to ask her small husband to absorb most of her 'largeness' rather than me?

 

[muppet]

As I can't be certain about the seat-belt extender, let's assume she didn't need one.
My main gripe was that as they were a couple, was it was unreasonable to ask her small husband to absorb most of her 'largeness' rather than me?

Not selfish at all!

You purchased one seat. She purchase one seat, not one seat plus whatever oozes over the edge into your space.

IMO they were being selfish for imposing onto you, not the other way around.

Personal disclaimer: I'm not healthy weight either, but I easily fit into a middle economy seat.

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

=

I would like some feedback from forum members on something that happened a fortnight ago.
Flying DJ from BNE-SYD at 11am on a Sunday morning, I checked in at the kiosk to be allocated seat 5B. I prefer an aisle and with the aircraft full, I went to the priority service lane (being a silver member) and asked the check-in staff member if there were any aisle seats. He gave me an exit row seat, which I was happy with, I think in 14C.
On taking my seat I notice a very, very large woman in 14B next to me. She was so large, she needed a seatbelt extender and she spilled very much onto my space. I am not a small person myself. I am 6'1" and and broad shouldered but not what you would call obese by any means.
I noticed the woman's husband was next to her on the window side and he was very small and slim.
Not wanting to spend 75-minutes with half a seat, I politely suggested to the couple that maybe they could swap seats (therefore meaning that the husband would absorb the woman's 'largeness' instead of me). They refused and I spent the flight in a very uncomfortable position in half a seat with the woman snoring loudly (totally different issue and unavoidable). Totally fine. I asked, they refused...end of story.
My question is, why would the very large woman be allocated an exit row and was my request selfish or reasonable?
My wife thinks I was selfish, but others I have spoken to say my request was reasonable.
I am prone to selfishness on occasions and was wondering whether frequent flyers think that I was being a cough. Feedback would be appreciated as if I am faced with the same situation again, I want to know whether what I did was right or wrong.
Please be aware, I was as polite as possible in asking the couple to switch seats and accepted their refusal and made no issue out of it after that.

Happened to me on a domestic flight last year. The large, spillover guy was in the middle seat (exit row) and the FA was standing next to him as passengers took their seats. I commented to her that she was standing in front of my seat, then I said, we both wont fit, I'm moving. She looked at me and said sit here, one row back, then left. Came up to me a few minutes later, moved me to business class. A) I'm not going to put up with an situation that I dont have to, even for a 2 hr flight b) in the event of an emergency, I don't think he could have done the job required.

 

[Hvr]

My main gripe was that as they were a couple, was it was unreasonable to ask her small husband to absorb most of her 'largeness' rather than me?

Not selfish at all. If there is a flab overflow and the flabber is travelling with family then they should suffer. Not an innocent fellow traveller.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

In these situations I have given up being polite to the person next to me. I go straight to the FA and ask them to assist me.

The embarrassment factor usually scores me an upgrade or at least a better seat.

 

[LiamR]

I don't think you are being selfish. Infact, I think you were too kind, putting up with it and not asking a flight attendant.

There is a requiremenet for a POS (Passenger of Size) to purchase a second seat for themselves if they are unable to sit in the seat, with the armrest down. Does not make any mention of any part of the body hanging over.

IIRC one of the requirements for DJ to sit in an exit for is 'You must be physically fit'. I don't think that condition was met, and would have been bringing it up with a flight attendant.

 

[russ]

Justinf,

You mentioned that you are married.
Therefore you are wrong.

 

[Justchecking]

IF she had an extension seat belt on then she should not have been in the exit row as per Virgin's rules already cited. It's not a matter of not being able to undo the seatbelt quickly, I rather think it's got more to do with physically fitting through the exit itself in an emergency. Having sat next to one several times I don't think they are the most accomodating exits onboard....

So saying that you may not be correct in your assumption that she was wearing one. Some persons of larger stature can fit the regular seatbelt around their persons, even in ways that look quite painful. Etiquette here is difficult. Personally.....no I don't think someone should be able to sequester the seat you've paid for simply by virtue of where their hips end. But you can hardly ask them to please take up less space. I do think there is call for airlines to provide wide and long seats in economy class for the many persons who don't fit in a standard economy seat but can't pay the business class fare. Something more akin to 150% of the economy fare rather than 400%. Lets face it, we don't exactly live in the land of midgets and waifs. But I think piglets will be fluttering against my windows in the morning before that happens.

Eh! You did what you did in the moment and I don't think it was particularly rude. More of a "on the off chance" kind of thing.

 

[Vinny]

No Justinf you are not selfish at all. In fact you are much more polite than I have become in recent years after dealing with such people. If the woman was too big for an exit row to be of use to other pax in an emergency, she should not have been there. Together with your polite asking to swap seats being refused and having to put up with 0.8 or so of a seat instead of a full seat which you paid for would be grounds to ask for a CSM to be summonsed. That and a polite but firm letter to DJ customer service to report the situation and how it was handled.

 

[Justinf]

Thanks for the responses so far everybody. Has been really good to see other people's opinions and I am glad I am seen to have not overreacted to the situation. I respect people's opinions on here quite a lot.

 

[Justinf]

Justinf,

You mentioned that you are married.
Therefore you are wrong.

Hahahaha! Good point. But my darling wife was not there and frankly, I disagree with her on this one, but on all other matters she is most definitely RIGHT.
Perhaps as she is 5'1" and weighs not much more than a large dog, she simply does not understand?

 

[ejb]

Hahahaha! Good point. But my darling wife was not there and frankly, I disagree with her on this one, but on all other matters she is most definitely RIGHT.
Perhaps as she is 5'1" and weighs not much more than a large dog, she simply does not understand?

I wouldn't tell your wife you disagree nor you compared her weight to a dog. ;-)

However when faced with this problem I feel you did the best you could without offending people. When I was a POS I was acutely aware of my size and tried to limit my intrusion on other people's space. Some people just don't care.

ejb.


Sent from my iPhone so please ignore auto corrects!

 

[trippin_the_rift]

While I've never actually stepped through an emergency door... they do appear quite thin.

If one requires a seatbelt extender, would they be able to fit through the door in an emergency