Bulkhead Seating
 

I'm flying Delta from Atlanta to Frankfurt mid September. What is the best method to secure a bulkhead seat? To date I've called Delta customer service and visited the airport check in agent without success.

Check www.seatguru.com

Welcome to Flyertalk! Most carriers, including Delta, reserve the front of coach and exit rows for their Elite frequent flyer members until day of departure. Your best bet (if you have any chance at all) is to arrive early on the day of your flight, check in, and ask nicely.

welcome to FlyerTalk, laketellico. Your question belongs in the Delta forum so let's continue it there.

--richard, moderator

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Bulkhead
 

Bulkseats on all flights are blocked until the day of travel. They have to remain free for possible special needs passengers like folks with certain physical problems or perhaps those with an assistance animal. Even elite memebers can't get them assigned in advance, so just be nice and ask when you first check in. Exit rows sometimes are labled as "elite seats", but not always. They do tend to be blocked until the day of on international flights. Just ask when you get there.

Were does the assistance animal get legally stored during the flight if that person is in the bulkhead. Bulkheads haven't always been blocked and I was recently able to obtain 3D on a CR4 (which is a bulkhead) in advance.

The animal sits on the floor in front of the seat (hence the need for bulkhead seating). If a disabled passenger needs a bulkhead seat and all are already assigned, someone will be moved.

Isn't that kind of a problem for the nothing blocking the route rule? I would think a service animal would need to be under the seat in front of them.

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The rule is because you are supposed to leave your belongings behind, and if they are on the floor, you might trip over them on the way out.

The disabled passenger will be taking the service animal with him during the evacuation. Besides, it's impossible to fit a Lab under a seat.

I thought it was so OTHERS won't trip over them on the way out. Of course, I wouldn't care if I blind person was sitting beside me with a service animal in a bulkhead but if the emergency did come (which I know is an incredibly small chance), my survival percentage will have gone down because of this.

Nope. The FAA wants to prevent everyone from tripping over carry-ons, not just "other people". Otherwise, the rule could be suspended if one of the two bulkhead seats is empty.

In an emergency, the seeing eye dog will be evacuating along with the blind passenger. If there's a time one would really need that seeing eye dog, an evacuation surely is one of them. So, you have nothing to worry about.

In fact, I wonder if you might be safer sitting next to a seeing eye dog. The dog won't panic, unlike passengers and flight attendants. :rolleyes:

Yea, I knew that but I guess I didn't say that. I thought it was implied but apparently not.

I disagree. I have a lot to worry about if there is an evacuation and a blind person with a dog does nothing to help that along. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the airline deciding where to seat such passenger and if I happen to be beside that person, then so be it. A massive amount of factors would have to come into play where this would determine survivability. I think they call that fate.

Dogs don't panic? :)

The airline doesn't decide where to seat them. They must sit in the bulkhead seat per FAA (safety) and DOT (accessibility) regulations. Don't like it? Don't sit in a bulkhead seat.

Dumb dogs, maybe, but not seeing-eye dogs. Initially, a dog in training may be afraid of things like crossing a street with heavy traffic, and if the dog can't overcome that fear, it will not be a seeing-eye dog.