Exit row responsibilities include judicious alcohol use
 

I felt privileged after many years of flying with Qantas domestic to finally secure an (albeit middle of three) exit row seat with the amply long leg room. I duly read instructions for, and listened carefully to the crew briefing, as it related to opening the exit door in an emergency. The business man sitting at the window seat had had more than enough beer to drink during evening dinner service. Should alcohol consumption (complimentary in this case) be restricted for exit row passengers to allow them to responsibly serve their important role in case of emergency aircraft exit operations?

Joseph Ting

Nope - you have no idea what is responsible for another person and let's face it, if you're flying domestic in Australia you're probably not going to have a landing that would require someone in the exit to do anything - ie a water landing.

Hez - Right on.

I, personally, have been in exit rows too many times to count.

I have never seen an FA restrict alcohol content of any single passenger in an exit row, that is, with someone who is relatively sober. My take is that the FAs know what they're doing, so let them do it.

Maybe JosephTing wants his fellow passengers to have sing-a-longs in lieu of alcohol.

Joseph, You have posted 3 times on Fodors and each has been a sort of whiny complaint . . . one topped a <u>13 year old</u> thread (!).

Do you want resolution or just a soap box?

Nah, I say if the plane is going down, let everyone be drunk!

suze: I <i>know</i> I would be ((D))

"Nah, I say if the plane is going down, let everyone be drunk!"

Amen

You need to fly United's Economy Plus to Europe. They charge $6 for a beer and $7 for a small little bottle of wine. Everyone in economy is broke before they get drunk.

That's what I was thinking wally

I don't know what "more than enough beer" is.

Everybody knows that the drunk guy is going to survive a crash, so really you want him next to the door.

I am one of the few people on this board who has actually done an evacuation due to an emergency on an airplane. I wish I had been drunk beforehand, but the fire started just as we took off so I didn't have the chance to indulge in British Airways' free drinks in coach. I did drink quite a bit after the fact, especially when British Airways opened the bar for us when we returned to the airport terminal.

The odds of doing an evacuation are so slim I don't think this s/b an issue.

This reminds me of people who say not to where synthetic clothing when you fly, because it catches fire more easily.

wear (not where) sheez, but you get the idea.

if you're aerial calm in Australia you're apparently not traveling to accept a landing that would crave anyone in the avenue to do anything

"<i>if you're aerial calm in Australia you're apparently not traveling to accept a landing that would crave anyone in the avenue to do anything</i>"

Couldn't have said it better myself! :D >)

At least in the United States, it's illegal to place an intoxicated passenger in an exit row, just as it is illegal to serve him enough alcohol to affect his capacity to assist in an evacuation (and it's illegal to serve anyone enough alcohol to make him drunk). I assume that air regulations in Australia are similar, so the cabin crew is probably in violation.

There is a tendency for people to dismiss safety procedures until there's a crash and people die, at which point the people who cared nothing about safety invariably attempt to convince investigators that they "didn't know."

As an international flight attendant, I am more concerned about the people who pop an Ambien in the extra row and are out like a light before we take off!

Make that EXIT row?

Good point dutyfree.

What about people who have panic attacks? Or someone who would just freeze when faced with an emergency? There's only so much screening we can do for people who can sit in an exit row seat.

Last year my wife and I were returning from our Caribbean vacation. On our connecting flight from Toronto we were seated one row behind the exit row. A gentleman and his 2 sons boarded and took there seats in the exit row. The FA came along and gave the usual presentation on the responsiblities of exit row passengers. The 3 gentleman watched but said nothing. As the flight progressed it became clear to us that neither of these individuals spoke English. We also became aware that 1 of the 3 was a developmentally limited adult. As the plane commenced its decent the usual announcements were made concerning seatbelts, raise your table, etc. None of the 3 understood the notification. The FA had did instruct them more than once on what they were do. When the plane was taxiing toward the arrival gate again the FA gave the usual announcements about remaining seated. The father immediately got up and started emptying their belongings from the overhead bin. The FA instructed him to sit down....he didn't understand.

As I exited the plane I informed both the 'lead' flight attendant and the co-pilot of what had transpired.

I thought the least an attendant at the check-in counter should have done was confirm that passengers seated in the exit row could understand English.

DaveJJ...every time I have been seated in an exit row. we have to give a verbal YES to the questions she asks. I'm surprised they said nothing or Perhaps YES was the only word they knew in English and you just didn't hear. makes me wonder who IS sitting that row and how relible r they in helping in an emergency situation. I have seen some pretty small and older people sitting there(not aming a judgment call onolder people) and I'm sure they couldn't lift a heavy door and get it out of the way. me thinks the airlines are more interesting in getting the exxtra $ for sitting the exit row!

I was on a very recent United flight (I think it was Tokyo to Chicago) and the FA removed a person from the exit row because she did not speak fluent English! Her English wasn't all that bad, but still, not good enough to help out in an emergency, I would say. I heard the two of them speaking. There was a most definite miscommunication there! Thank you FA for moving her.

The agents at my airline always ask people at check in about their sitting in window exits.
One of our flight attendant duties BEFORE push back is to access the people sitting at exit rows and to get a verbal response from them.
I have moved people many times in my career when I didn't think that someone is going to be able to help get the 52 pound window open,etc.
Were you flying a foreign carrier?

Oh interesting. I was just reading this very question in the 7/8 New York Times Magazine Ethicist column. It sounded so familiar, and it was asked by Joseph from Australia. Guess he shopped it around. LOL.

Last year I flew Air Canada from Toronto to Vancouver to Vancouver. We were in the middle row next to the exit row seats. The couple who were in those seats were given the usual discussion with the FA. She made it very clear what their responsibilities were and they were not served very much alcohol during the flight. However, what they were doing was tossing down their duty free bourbon on whatever it was and eventually passed out. The FA realised with about 30 minutes to go.

After a struggle she managed to wake them both from their stupor, gave them an absolute bollocking and then asked if my friend and I would move to their seats. I agreed as did my poor friend, but what the FA didn't know is that my friend is absolutely phobic about sitting in those seats and having that responsibility. We still laugh about it, with her absolutely panic stricken and me, pretty fit and prepared to have a go at throwing that door out of the plane.

Cathie, sounds like your friend was just as unable to perform exit row duties as were the drunks. She was just as dangerous and unsafe for agreeing as the original pair was.

(And for the record, the exit door is not always thrown out of the aircraft, more usually being placed on the seat. And the other person (or two) are responsible for clearing way and assisting others in exiting.)

I agree that she may have been hopeless, I guess at least she would have been able to help with other things and wasn't falling down drunk.

The airlines, of course, would prefer that you set the exit door carefully on the seat, but in an emergency, throwing it out of the plane clears the way for an emergency exit much faster.

In the event that we weren't all dead after the crash, I'm not sure I would be thinking clearly enough to remember to put the door carefully on the seat! In my panic there's every possibility it would land on top of my panic stricken friend!! Maybe we shouldn't sit there again :)

I am wondering who is in charge of those "duties" if no one wants to sit in an exit row. After all, it is each pax' right to decline a seat in these rows.
And I wonder who actually has ever handled an object weighing more than 50 pounds and "thrown" it somewhere. I assume that many people that consider themselves fit and able and sober will not be able to perform such a task properly. Not even taking into consideration what stress will do to those physically able.
And, judging from the pictures you see in the safety briefing cards, the airlines don't expect you to put the door in the seat but throw it out of that hole. it would be stupid beyond believe to leave such a heavy piece of steel in the escape route at an exit.
And, finally, as dutyfree has pointed out, I wonder how many of those people who drugged themselves with tranquilizers (which, after reading a trillion "recommendations" here seems to be the norm for many people on a long distance flight) consider themselves as unfit as a drunk person. Probably not many, unfortunately.