FLIHGH

I was on a UA Express flight before where parents claimed their daughter was young enough to be a lap baby, and the FA announced to the whole cabin that the parents were lying according to the birth date on the passenger list...must be something FA's like to do a lot.

TMM1982

Nah you're wrong. Just because I booked the exit row seats doesn't make me responsible for her on a plane or any other adult for that matter. I would actually argue the FA violated his duties by simply asking a general question and looking around generally for 12 head nods and 12 yes's. On other planes that I've been on, the FA will ask each person seated in the exit row, "Do you speak English?" Each person then nods and says yes as appropriate.

Once again, the FA was being lazy. He was unable to communicate with my girlfriend so he did the easiest thing by calling me a liar and making it seem as though I was responsible for her actions when in fact I'm not.

If my girlfriend had decided to open up the exit door at 30,000 feet, would the FA run down the aisle and ask me, "Sir, why did you do that?" I don't think so.

RenHoek

Puh-lease. In post #10 you said "I didn't even know that policy." in response to "if your g/f doesn't speak English, she probably shouldn't be in the exit row."

Now you say "On other planes that I've been on, the FA will ask each person seated in the exit row, "Do you speak English?" Each person then nods and says yes as appropriate."

I see this at the airport often. Either you or the FA were looking for a fight, and you got one. Congrats.

jj1987

Are you telling me that when the question was asked does everyone speak English you were so focused on him that you didn't even consider that your girlfriend doesn't speak English? When booking tickets you didn't think about her not speaking english even after being asked to nod your head and remove earphones before every flight?

I get it-- you didn't want to move. I don't blame you. However, please use some common sense here and realize that you're going to have a very hard time selling your story.

TMM1982

I didn't, mostly because although my girlfriend doesn't speak English with anyone else, she does say a few words here and there with me so I didn't really consider it a big deal. Not to mention, if there was an accident and we had to evacuate, I would be the one helping people to leave and I would tell my girlfriend to get out.

But what I think some of you are missing (and several intelligent posters already caught onto it on the first page of responses), is that this isn't about whether we should have moved or not. It's about the tone of the FA towards me and calling me a liar in front of the section. That's not appropriate behavior under any circumstances.

sbm12

Unless you get hit on the head by something and are knocked out and she has to figure out what to do. Also, in the case of an evac the other people in the exit row (i.e. not the window seat) do have responsibilities and need to be able to communicate in the language.

You don't like the way the FA behaved. That's clear. And maybe the FA was wrong to speak as loudly as they did. But you also contributed to the situation by some of your actions.

Both parties are culpable here.

deelmakur

Puerto Rico is a Spanish speaking Commonwealth of the United States. If bilingualism is an issue on flights to and from, the larger question is, was the entire crew proficient in Spanish? In an emergency situation, the ability of the crew to communicate with all passengers, regardless of the row they are in, is far more important. As for the apparent unfortunate conversation that took place, while the majority of JetBlue crew are usually pleasant, and know their jobs, compared with legacy carriers, they can be a bit rough around the edges. Exit row seating is subject to the More Space surcharge. It is quite easy to advise persons seated there, if there are conditions beyond being "willing and able to assist in emergency", since they are identifiable beforehand by fare type. There should also be signage in that row, advising customers of such a requirement. I am not aware of any being posted. I am also not aware of any Federal requirement for Exit row patrons to be multilingual. I have flown millions of miles, all over the world, on foreign and domestic carriers, and have never noted such a requirement. In overseas emergency situations, we were always instructed by multilingual crewmembers.

sbm12

Except that's neither the law nor company policy.
The FAA rules are real. It is more than just "willing and able." And JetBlue does publish them: http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN...obj(382583)#s5. Communications in English is mentioned twice there.
And if you choose the seats online you get this:


It is up to the carrier and local laws. I've been re-seated before because of such requirements.

Travlynn

What do you hope to accomplish by bringing this up now?

TMM1982

Not a damn thing.