Originally Posted by smallmj

I was thinking about my recent Swoop flight, and came to a realization. Before takeoff one of the FA's gave a briefing on how to open the over-wing exit to the folks in 16DEF. But nobody was seated in 16ABC. I guess no one wanted to pay for the extra legroom there (I was in 17C - which has some extra legroom but was cheaper than the exit row.)

In the event of an evacuation, who's job is it to open an emergency exit when the exit row is empty? If passengers with mobilty issues can't sit in the exit row for safety reasons, then is having an empty exit row a safety issue?