Originally Posted by
findark
It's not going to happen, but it would be pretty simple to block one adjacent seat for elites (probably GS/1K) as part of assignment and then have the GA assign into the block if necessary at the gate.
Yes, UA could easily implement that.
It currently works almost exactly opposite, as GAs typically clear non-revs into best available Y seat, which means the prime E+ seats (exit row and bulkheads) almost always get filled first. Literally every time I've been in Y on UA the past year or so (thankfully not often), the GAs have put a non-rev next to me, leaving other middles empty.