News, Couple called 'too old' for airline seats.

[Dd714]

As usual - an article with a misleading title.

FAA has requirements for passengers in emergency seat which includes age limits (no children), physical requirements, and the ability to speak English I think. To operate the emergency exit requires a passenger to lift out the door and place it aside - 50 or 60 pounds on most equipment. The flight crew usually accesses the health and ability of a passenger at the gate (during boarding) and before takeoff when they are in their seat. I know this because I always get the exit row if I don't make my upgrades. If I were a passsenger I would not want my life depending on a frail almost-80 year old passenger either.

No story here worth discussing.

[mdlee3]

I also knew that it was an exit row seat as soon as I saw the title of this thread.

I'm guessing that this couple probably doesn't fly much or they would have known the requirements of the exit row and wouldn't have paid the extra $150 for the seats.

While they should be entitled to some refund, the couple, in my opinion, has nothing to complain about. None of us know the whole story so we're just speculating here. Just by looking, you can tell that some people can't meet the requirements to sit in the exit row. There's also the possibility that if they were allowed to sit there and there was an emergency, maybe the guy or woman would have had a heart attack and not only failed to open the door, but also fallen and blocked the exit. I certainly hope that this wouldn't happen, but it's better to be safe with 2 upset passengers than sorry with 150 dead passengers.

I've seen people struggle to carry a bag that they claimed only weighs about 20lbs and then sit in the exit row. If they're going to struggle with such a light bag (assuming the weight they say is true) then I definitely don't want them trying to open the doors in an emergency.