Originally Posted by
coolbeans202
Following up on the 7DEF questions from a few posts above...has it been explained why 7DE are blocked for advanced seat selection?
Every single seatmap I've seen of a 739 flight has 7DE shown as occupied, while expertflyer shows the seats as blocked, not occupied, which leads me to believe that they are actually being blocked.
They're blocked for accommodation. They can be used for e.g. a pax who has a medical need for more legroom (leg brace or cast), for last minute issues where seats in E+ together would be helpful, etc. Sometimes they are released at T-24 and sometimes they are held to the gate.
There are also a few seats in the back which are similarly blocked (something like Row 23 iirc). There's a similar pattern of blocking on every UA aircraft type.