Originally Posted by
Roadrunner165
Thanks for point this out. Believe me, it’s helpful.
But whytoday and not any other day? It’s gate agent discretion on what constitutes responsibilities? My wife looks too weak minded? I look too dumb? How about if we had a teenagers instead of a 7 year old? Or married couples with no kids, they must love each other passionately too! They clearly shouldn’t sit apart. Maybe single people couldn’t perform their duties because they’re too selfish?? There are literally an endless combustion of scenarios that could qualify.
If I say it won’t be a problem. And the reservations aren’t linked. Who are they to judge?
It sounds like these GAs were the ones actually doing their jobs properly (except for the poor explanation) and the ones who let you get away with it in the past were not following the regulations.
Having said that, lots of rules are not consistently enforced. On US domestic flights I've seen times where people who did not speak English (to the point where they didn't understand what they were being asked when the FA asked if they were willing and able to perform the duties, and eventually answered "yes" after seeing that everyone else did) who were still allowed to sit in the exit row. This is a violation of the safety rules (you need to be able to follow crew member instructions to sit in an exit row) but it happens frequently. If a FA were to do his or her job properly and reseat someone on this situation, I would not blame the that FA... rather, I would say that the other FAs need to start doing the same. This situation seems similar to that. The fact that other GAs haven't properly enforced the safety rules doesn't mean that the ones who do are doing something wrong... just the opposite in fact!
And it should be obvious, but you saying that it's not a problem is not relevant. The safety rules are not a negotiation. If the rule says it's a problem then it's a problem.