hillrider

I was on a CMB-SIN UL flight operated by an A320 and the overwing exit row (row 9) had a 5/6 year old boy in the window seat next to the the exit, a 3/4 year old boy in the middle seat, and the mother in the aisle seat. Obviously the onboard crew were fully aware of this.

Having kids in the exit row is banned (considered a safety issue) in the US, Europe, and most of the rest of the world. Does Sri Lanka (and SriLankan Airlines) feel differently? I could not find any policy about this on www.srilankan.com.

Thankfully there was no accident and no need for a lifesaving rapid egress from the overwing exits. But after witnessing this, I am kind of scared about the rest of SriLankan's operation.

AddictedTraveller

Never seen this before and assumed it was banned everywhere. Did you highlight your concern to the crew?

hillrider

I didn't as I was pretty tired and it's not like I was letting the the crew know of something that they didn't already know, so I presumed it was either "normal" or "tolerated".

In retrospect I should have asked just to hear their answer.

tmac100

You missed the "carpe diem" moment by not raising the issue. Why are you now mentioning it on FT? Now it is just a story - kinda like an urban myth. There really is no way to check this story out. I surprised that the UL crew knew about the situation but DID NOTHING!!

In all honesty, I find that story hard to believe - having flown with UL quite a number of times since 2011. In every case, their crew members were quite attentive to details (or so it seemed to me at the time). In fact I recently received a letter of thanks from UL regarding a flight commentary I gave them on a recent flight.

Obviously YMH(as)V.

jagmeets

Was this a post take-off swap (not that that's ok!)?

I ask because each time I've been in 10C (9 doesn't recline) on the 320s (and there've been quite a few such occasions) the crew has reminded everyone in the exit rows to familiarize themselves with the exit procedures pre take-off.

That said, I don't think it to be beyond UL crew to 'accommodate' a friend/family/senior request.

While I like them quite a lot, this is an airline that didn't have any qualms a year back, in making an unscheduled stop in SIN on a CMB-KUL-CMB rotation to pickup its chairman, his wife, and a friend who were to travel SIN-CMB on a 2ish hrs delayed flight...glad that he lost his job after bro-in-law lost the elections.

And OT, anyone in CMB, traveling on UL/oneworld tonight and needing an invite to Serendib, ping me! Have had the whole lounge to myself for a better part of the last 2hrs.

longliveKA

Ha Ha! Better kids than crippled! A couple of years ago I got a man with an arm cast sitting next to me on the exit road of an Iberia domestic flight.
I asked the guy and he confirmed he got the exit road specifically because of his cast
At least the kids fit trough the hatch, it wold have been fun to unscrew the cast

Andy49

I am surprised too, almost everyone has a device with a camera and then stick it on youtube

weero

It is. But it also is very common on Asian carriers. At least I have seen it numerous times.

And the only time I have seen the crews taking action was when the GAs in SIN upgraded a whole family with toddler and small kids to both exit rows. The FAs did raise a major issue but the pax were very reluctant to move.

You want to go where?

I know it isn't. They tried to downgrade a colleague of mine so that friends or colleagues (I didn't ask) of the cabin crew could sit together in Business Class. I put up a stink and they relented. While my colleague got the seat, the crew and their friends spent the entire flight in the galley. Worst service I have ever had on a flight.

I'm not saying this is the norm for UL. I have had to fly them again (as you can tell, they are not my go-to airline) and each time the crew were professional, though not remarkable. Generally, I find UL to be on a par with US-based airlines, not great, not awful.

fairviewroad

I'm amused that the link that sent me here from the FT homepage uses the headline: "These Toddlers Are a Safety Hazard"

Without weighing in on the actual substance of the topic, I can say that few people consider a 5/6 year old a toddler. Even a 3/4 year old is generally considered out of "toddler" range. "Pre-schoolers" would have been a better word choice, IMO.