Passengers restricted from sitting in exit row seats by CASA definition are;
- People with permanent or temporary disability,
- Children under 15 years of age,
- Adults nursing infants,
- People who do not understand or speak English,
- People requiring an extension seatbelt,
- Deportees or prisoners in custody.
In addition, company policy also includes;
- Pregnant women over 6 months gestation.
As mentioned already by others, JetFlex passengers are able to select exit row seats but they too will be assessed by check-in staff for suitability to sit at the overwing exits. If they receive a boarding pass at one of the kiosks or have printed it at home and walk straight on to the aircraft then they would have agreed to the exit row seating requirements that they are prompted with on the screen. In that case it's an honesty system and it will then only be cabin crew that will notice if they do not meet the requirements to sit there and it's then the Left 2 Primary cabin crew member (who is positioned at the overwing area during boarding) that must re-seat passengers... and that can be a nightmare at times! Sometimes delaying departure.
Any remaining exit row seats not selected by JetFlex passengers are allocated to other passengers who request them at check-in on a first-in first-served basis and if that fails to satisfy the minimum 2x ABPs (Able Bodied Persons) per exit row (8 in total at the A320 overwing area) then check-in will re-allocate suitable passengers to those seats. If they haven't done that due to time constraints or last minute no-shows then cabin crew will re-seat pax to meet the ABP requirements.
So Peter, after all that, get to check-in for your flight when it opens and provided the JetFlex passengers booked on your flight have not already snapped up all the exit row seats (and not all of them are that clever, and often do just pick any old seat in the cabin), then the staff should be able to allocate you the exit row if you don't have a broken arm or leg of course, and you understand the English I'm speaking, lol !
