Fair enough.

I declined, largely because I didn’t think they gave me the information I needed to make a good decision in a split second. The gate agent immediately accepted that and moved on, which I appreciated. Had she been able to express how or why this person would have benefited from the seat upgrade, I probably would have been willing. In general, that’s the kind of thing I tend to do—as do most of you, I’m sure. Having been at the gate, I had seen a couple of people in wheelchairs, but both were holding canes—an indication that they were perhaps having difficulty walking, but not that they were significantly disabled or would benefit much from a few extra inches of legroom. And, indeed, in my experience that accounts for many, perhaps even the majority, of people who need extra time or assistance to board the plane.

So I declined, but felt a little guilty about it, and still do. That’s especially true because after I went aboard I saw that the passenger in question did have a significant disability. (Though it still isn’t clear to me how the extra legroom would have benefitted him). At that point I could not offer to swap, though, because as far as I could tell he would not have been able to move from seat-to-seat without significant assistance.

Long story short, next time I would probably press for a little more information. If they were unwilling to give it, I’d probably decline again, trusting that Air Canada has mechanisms and procedures to ensure people with disabilities and other needs are adequately taken care of.