Safety in the air?

The airlines always claim that safety is their #1 focus. But on occasion they find it convenient to forget that focus.

On a recent flight, which was full, I was sitting just behind one of the doors. The seat qualifies as an exit seat, and I normally choose exit seats because of the extra leg room; but this particular seat is rather uncomfortable because of the slide extension of the door. The row in front is a full exit row, but only contains two seats.

As frequent travelers know, there are a number of criteria that passengers must meet in order to sit in the exit row. two of them concern the ability to assist in the event of an emergency, another is that the passenger should not need to use a seat belt extender. I was very surprised to see a extremely obese lady sitting down in the seat in front of me. During the boarding process, I heard one of the flight attendants explaining that they were not allowed to provide her with a seat belt extender, due to the seat being in the exit row.

I naively thought that she had asked for a more comfortable fit, as a fully extended normal seat belt might be a tight fit. However, as we taxied to the run way I noticed that she seemed to be un-belted in her seat. As we took off I looked more closely and noticed that she had indeed not fastened her belt. The picture above was taken as soon as the crew made the "you can use your electronic equipment" announcement, while the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign was still on. Throughout the flight, including a couple of patches of turbulence, the belt remained unfastened. Even during approach and landing, no belt.

I found this very unprofessional and irresponsible of the cabin crew to knowingly allow such a disregard for FAA rules. If we had had any severe turbulence, the woman could have been thrown out of her chair, possibly injuring herself and even surrounding passengers. I hate to think what might have happened if we had had a real emergency, such as an hard stop, where this huge bulk would have been catapulted into the row in front, probably collapsing the back of the seat onto the person sitting there. If we had needed to make a quick exit through the door, how long would it have taken for this person to move out and down the slide.

I appreciate that obese people have a right to travel, as much as anyone else, but the airline staff, ground and cabin crew should not have seated her in the exit row, a violation of FAA safety rules.

So next time you get bossed around on grounds of some safety rule, just remember that it just depends whether you are the unlucky one.

Pre-booked seats not always available

In an earlier post I indicated how important I found being able to select convenient and comfortable seats, in advance. However, on a couple of recent NWA flights, I found that reserving in advance does not guarantee that you will receive the selected seat. In one case, I understand that equipment change was the reason. I had been moved from one exit row to a different row. The gate agent said a similar seat in a different row. This was actually not true, as it was the exit row at a main door, and therefore the legroom is curtailed by the slide housing on the door. But worse is the fact that this row does not have under seat storage, so my computer bag would normally not be within reach during the flight. As I like to access my computer to complete expense reports, and also my Shure noise reduction headphones during the flight this could have been a problem. Luckily the passenger next to me, who had unused under seat storage allowed me to use his space.
On flights a week earlier, my preassigned seats had been taken away on both legs. In this case there was no obvious equipment change so I wonder why my assignments were lost. This must have been a computer glitch, as the chances of someone traveling the same two segments and arranging to 'take over' my seats on both legs is quite small. As I had not checked in online for these flights I thought that perhaps it was due to the airport check-in, just 60 minutes before departure. However, the experience mentioned above indicates that even early check in does not guarantee the seats.
Sorry NWA but another soduk for you.

Back from Vacation

After a three week road trip in our RV, it is a little difficult to get back into the rhythm of regular travel. But it is nice to see that not much has changed. After my good experiences with NWA, I was disappointed this week.

A few weeks ago, a delayed flight resulted in a missed connection. In fact the delayed flight arrived at the gate 10 minutes before the published departure of the connecting flight. But we were told, and there were at least seven others passengers trying to make the same connection, that we could not make the flight.

Surprise, surprise this Sunday, when my flight from MSP to YWG was delayed. The reason given for the delay? "Awaiting incoming delayed passengers". What I wonder, is why they had not this a few weeks earlier, and saved themselves eight hotel nights, dinners, breakfasts and a bunch of unhappy customers.