Whlist going through security at Roswell airport this weekend there was an older gentleman in his early 70s complaining about having to take his shoes off at the security checkpoint. He was also taking his time to do everything (shoes, putting his bag in the tray, etc.) - fair enough, I thought.

Once on the flight I noticed he was sat in the exit row (across the aisle from me). Given that he was so slow at doing basic activities I was quite surprised that he qualified for an exit seat.

Do the FAs ever reseat people because they are too old/frail for an exit row seat? Are they allowed to involuntarily reseat poeple based on old age?

There have been quite a few threads about people being moved because the FA's or pilot or whatever did not think they qualified to be there.

Not sure how you can make a determination as to his worthiness to be there based on him taking his time through security, but that's another story.

No, I don't believe they can reseat somebody based just on age, nor should they be able to.

Edited to add - There is a minimum age you have to be in able to seat in an exit row. While this thread is clearly not about anybody near the minimum age, I should have spelled that out to avoid the confusion apparently it caused.

Based on how much of an issue and difficult it seemed to be for him to take his shoes off I just worry how able he would be to move across to the window seat and manipulate the door.

Isn't there an age minimum for exit row seating?

I was surprised recently to be assigned an exit row seat during check in at the airport without any mention by the agent. I definitely appreciated it, but it was a little surprising that she never mentioned it and I only found out on boarding. I thought they were supposed to ask you

Why not? It's better than a subjective view of someone's strength etc. If there is a minimum, there should be a maximum as well, for the same reason.

How about a weight cutoff then? Sat next to someone who was easily> 400 lbs in an exit row. No way he could easily move and open the door in an emergency.

Lets keep pushing it. No little old ladies either. No way they can open the door.

Of course we wouldn't want any teenagers either. Can't be relied upon.

The sad truth is, most of the people that make complaints like this have an underlying bias or just want the extra legroom for themselves.

How about not serving liquor to people in exit rows because they might become unable to assist in an emergency? How about the guy who climbed the 103 flights of stairs at the Willis Bld. with a prosthetic leg?

These things are by nature subjective. Me, I'd prefer the guy with the prosthetic over the guy who got drunk any day of the week.

That's why FA's and ultimately the Captain are empowered to make these decisions.

i'm 75. slowed down a lot. had a major stroke, got a pacemaker, just recovered from pnuemonia. shoes and feet are way down there. a real pain to bend down and get to. sit in a chair to do that. i very much dislike running around in my socks on the walkway, and then continue using them for 12 hours. i am very careful about all the paraphernalia i pile on the tray. tsa has a tendency to scatter the stuff and disappear it.

however, on the brighter side, i play squash 3 x a week, and am nationally ranked. i usually do about 50 flights of stairs a day. i count them.(bought a wrong retirement house). try to limit myself to 40-50lb bags of bird seed to haul. very few 30-40yo's have my strength and endurance.

maybe a test for exit row duty? i was frequently asked"can you open the exit door?" when i flew Y. everyone replies they can. how do they know? over 95% (99%?)of the people never have opened an exit door.

have you, chrl ever opened one? as i said very few have.

Pretty sure it's 15.

I'd rather have the 400 pound football player in an exit row than the 80 year old grandmother who weighs 90 pounds soaking wet and who can't lift a 20 pound bag without help.

It's spelled out unequivocally in FAR 121.585.

Like some other FARs, some crews routinely ignore it.

I'm not sure how the airline would know this though. Even if you told them, I don't think they would believe you nor do I think that they should as who knows what other objective you might have for wanting a certain pax moved.

"lift out, hold, deposit on nearby seats, or maneuver over the seatbacks to the next row, objects the size and weight of over-wing exit doors;
remove obstructions similar to size and weight of over-wing exit doors, all while maintaining balance;"

i cannot perform this task. i doubt if more than 10 or20% of the people on the plane can do this. very few female FA's could do this. a 50lb door with some 2' x 4-5' dimension.

this task requires a strong person, not your average desk jockey.

Yes there is, and it was bad of me to make a general statement about the elderly sitting in an exit row seat in a thread about somebody in their 70's being reseated without clarifying it. I have edited the post to avoid any further confusion.