When Allocating Emergency Seats, What Should Be Airlines' Priority?

It has been really some time since I last posted. Two months have passed without me realizing. But those are really one of the most hectic two months I ever had. There were so many things to do and yet so little time. Been traveling to several countries but unfortunately not for leisure. Now that I have more or less settled down, I thought it is good to restart this blog. Hopefully from today onwards, I can blog regularly.

To kick-start this new beginning, let me talk about something I become very familiar about lately: air traveling. Having taken flights from different airlines, I have learnt that airlines have different priorities when it comes to allocating emergency seats to customers. As the name suggests, emergency seats are those front seats located beside the emergency exits. And since those seats are front seats, anyone sitting there will obviously have wider legroom.

For some airlines, those front seats are open to anyone on a first come, first serve basis as long as one feels comfortably strong enough to help the air-steward/ stewardess in times of emergency. It doesn’t matter whether you are young or old, man or woman, you can select those seats as long as you meet the criterion stated above.

On the other hand, there are some airlines that have decided to exploit the wider legroom provided by these seats by charging passengers who want to sit there an extra fee. Although this action shows that whoever that is running the airline company has good business acumen, I personally think it is inappropriate to do so because it clearly put the company in a bad light. People will say that this particular airline put more emphasis on business and less on safety. Morally, it is also wrong because you are charging a person who in times of need, maybe of great help to you. If you are busy with your work and a colleague offers to help you buy lunch, would you charge him a fee for helping you? Clearly, the opposite appears more rational.

Airlines may argue that with its excellent track record, probability of them encountering emergency situations are very small (close to zero) and hence, the purpose of those seats are more for providing comfort rather than for passengers capable of helping during emergency. However, with life so full of surprises, should we ignore such probability, no matter how negligible it is?