tbone14

Long time lurker, first time poster. I apologize if that has been discussed elsewhere.

I recently traveled on an AA Airbus 321 (V3). I was in the exit row, seat 10F. For row 9, there are only seats D/E, and F is missing. Directly in front of me is the crew jump seat. In front of row 9 is a rectangular metal equipment box, that obscures the under seat storage space of row 8, which would normally be used by row 9.

I have sat in all seats and all pmUS and AA planes. In my experience, a small personal carryon (e.g. backpack, messenger bag), can fit underneath row 8 by squeezing the item in the opening beyond the equipment box. As for the crew jump seat that occupies the space of 9F, there is space behind the jumpseat that can be accessible to the underseat storage space underneath seat 8F.

What passenger has the "right" to use the space behind the crew jumpseat and underneath seat 8F? The passenger in 9E, or 10F?

IADCAflyer

I thinking jumping for storage (underseat) two rows is a bit of a stretch. 9D or 9E might try to use it and they would be reasonable in their assumption.

Think of 10F like a bulkhead with really no underseat storage.

tbone14

So then would the passenger in 9E be allowed to use storage underneath both 8E and 8F then?

phillyjoe

I have had 9E and have often used the two underseat storage areas under row 8. No one has ever said anything.

flightrisk

Interesting, on a recent flight I observed 9E using the space under 8D and thought that was obnoxious, since the later-arriving 9D was deprived of that space.

In the absense of the metal box, it seems that it should be 9D -> 8D, 9E -> 8E, 10F -> 8F. However the metal box makes it sort of an anything goes scenario. I think it's analogous to how FAs will stuff anyone's items under the last row of first when there is a wall.

televisor

There was a similar discussion on the Southwest forum, their consensus seems to be that you can use the space directly in front of you in a straight line, i.e. the equivalent of 10F->8F - however they also don't seem to have any blockages preventing use of any of the underseat storage.

ThreeJulietTango

I would say that 10F can use the underseat storage under 8F since 9E already has their own space under 8E.

tbone14

In the absence of an equipment box, I think we can all agree that the under seat storage should be allocated as follows:

9D => 8D
9E => 8E
10F => 8F

However, when there is an equipment box and a jumpseat present, it seems like there is no order or rules, and this will then become chaos.

Using simple logic (and IMO), the presence of any obstruction should not deter from the norm. But based on the comments, that does not seem to be so.

IADCAflyer - In this situation, why is the 10F passenger to assume his seat is like a bulkhead seat? Could the same not apply to 9D and 9E?

TrojanHorse

While I don't have a definitive answer, why would 9E have rights to both and 10F access to none?

IADCAflyer

Because there is a seat directly in front of 9D and 9E but not in front of 10F.

You have a jumpseat and an equipment box (IIRC).

This really isn't work getting into IMHO. However from a passenger perspective, my feeling is that each row has an invisible wall of privacy and having a passenger from a previous row crawling past you (while weaving past the jump seat) to put something into the underseat storage is a bit odd....

This is the closest image that i can find to what we are dealing with....But as I said above, I think there is a jumpseat where 9F would be.

Often1

There are no rules, so if there is a dispute, it is up to the crew to resolve. If someone had taken 2 spaces and I had none, I would not hesitate to hit the call button and raise the issue. Doesn't matter what contorted reasoning people think is fairest.

PHLGovFlyer

I faced exactly this situation a few days ago. The wife and I were seated in 9D and 9E on a LUS A321 (the V3 version on SeatGuru). There was the large metal equipment box directly behind 8E and 8F (it actually blocks part of the back of 8D too). There was also the jump seat behind 8F. There is a small vertical "slot" created between the equipment box, the jump seat, seat 8F, and the side wall of the aircraft. I squeezed my small backpack into the slot behind 8F and my wife used the slightly restricted underseat of 8D. The passenger in 10F ended up using the overhead for their carry-on. There's actually very little space available under row 8 when the metal equipment box is present so there's really no practical way to accommodate the carry-ons of three pax.

Your image is correct for aircraft without the metal equipment box. The metal box makes access to the underseat area of seat 8E in your impossible, and creates the "slot" described above. The jumpseat is actually slightly forward of row 9 and nearly touches the back of row 8.

tbone14

IADCAflyer - That makes sense regarding the passenger in 10F. Thank you for clarifying that.

Often1 - I think you summarized it best. In this situation, there are no rules. I will leave it for the FAs to sort out going forward.

As an aside, it seems even among a small group in this discussion, there is not a consensus when there is an equipment box AND jumpseat in front of seats 9D/E. We all have differing opinions as to what seat should have the right to use the space behind the jumpseat.

Here is a better picture of the exact scenario on this aircraft.

jordyn

In this situation, since there's not "normal" underseat storage for either 9E or 1F, I'd opine that they both have equal rights to the space in question and that whoever puts stuff there first gets it. I certainly wouldn't call for crew intervention if I was late-arriving and my counterpart in the other seat had put something in the space.

Kreative03

I'm enjoying this debate, as a frequent sitter in 9d/e. I've been in 9e and had the jumpseating FA's crap under 8F on more than one occasion. I usually then make the FA find space for my stuff but it really gets to be a tricky situation when there's an equipment box and 2 people need space, but neither get it.