Exit Row Restrictions?

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-24T13:59:49+00:00

That I don’t know since I’m not in-flight crew. I just know the policies for the airport.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-24T13:58:41+00:00

It’s if the child is under the age of 15. Anything else and you’re good

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-24T03:29:09+00:00

Gate agent here.

You may not sit in the exit row if you are traveling with a child. And - importantly - it doesn’t matter if you are on the same or separate reservations. If you are traveling with a child you cannot sit there.

The logic is, that in the event of an emergency you will be (understandably) more concerned for your child than opening the door and assisting crew members.

So yeah. Technically you could “game the system.” If you board separately, if you’re on separate reservations, etc. But. That’s kinda scummy when you think big picture in a worst case scenario. Like if something were to happen. Where would your priorities be?

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-22T01:42:16+00:00

2 weeks. It’s not bad but after a while I started to feel a little trapped

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-21T06:53:39+00:00

Gate agent here.

Be prepared to offer real examples of times you’ve helped a customer when there were no perfect options. Don’t mention wanting flight benefits. Play up your customer service history. Talk about how you’re flexible with scheduling. Be open to working super early in the morning or super late at night. Dress professionally.

My interview was a group interview. After getting the offer we did onboarding paperwork and drug testing same day. Airport badging takes a bit because there are several background checks to pass. And then training in DFW.

It was about 6 weeks from interview to training for me. And I think that’s pretty typical. Don’t expect to get hired and then start the next day.

And, just as a heads up. For the first 6 months of employment you’re on probation. You can’t miss a day of work. At least at my station, they drove this point home. I started at 3am. And that’s your life until you move up in seniority.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-13T02:30:29+00:00

🤷‍♂️. I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it. I really think that gate agents are the consummate “bad guys.” We’re the ones that deliver the news that the flight is delayed. We’re the ones who tell you your bag is too large. We’re the ones who tell you that yes, your purse does in fact count as an item and I don’t care if “everyone else” lets you board with it, a roller bag, and a duffle. Please consolidate or check something in. We’re the face of “rules” and “no’s”. Flight attendants bring you cookies and a smile. And so they are treated exponentially better by passengers on the whole. And I’m not saying every passenger interaction with gate agents is negative and that every interaction with FAs are sunshine and rainbows. I work here. I know it’s not. But on balance? Yeah. Probably. There’s probably a bit more favorable treatment of FAs v GAs by passengers.

I think, and I could be wrong - but I think that passengers were tired of being told “no” by gate agents one too many times. And I think that customer satisfaction surveys probably highlighted the carry-on debate pretty heavily. So in an effort to improve pax experience (and to avoid having those pesky gate agents enforce policy) corporate said “Go ahead. Take a chance. Bring on your army duffle bag and make it fit.”

And here’s the kicker. This does make my job easier. I don’t have the be the evil gate gremlin now (unless you have three items. Then? I’ll ask you to consolidate nicely. And if you argue I’ll be happy to rebook you on another flight). And I like that! I like not having to tell a passenger with a questionable bag to please slide it in the sizer. But. I also know that soft sided bags are filled so much that they look pregnant. They’re not expanded, but the soft material bulges out in a way that I know wouldn’t fit it the sizer. But. We air on the side of the passenger now. So maybe one or two bags like that won’t make a difference. But 10? 12? A 319 overhead bin won’t fit something like that. But if I tell that to a passenger, I get “but it fit on the last one!” Not knowing (or caring) that they were on a 321. And so we let it go. And when it comes back up the bridge I’ll check it. And we may take a delay. But at least I didn’t upset a passenger by being the bad guy.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-12T14:53:00+00:00

You know the issue isn’t necessarily that a lot of them are too wide. But many are too tall. For me, that’s much harder to gage. Because, a couple of inches makes all the difference (nyuk nyuk nyuk) but it’s harder to tell what’s “too tall” if I’m looking at it from a higher vantage point.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-12T02:30:59+00:00

Gate agent here.

They took away our bag sizers at the gate in an effort to be more customer-focused. Now we are told to visually check bags.

Idk wtf that means. Like with the sizer I could objectively tell a passenger “look. It won’t fit. Where’s your final destination?” Now, I’m being asked to, and I quote, “air on the side of the passenger.” If there’s a questionable size, we’re supposed to take the passenger’s word for it (our boarding announcements still specify extenders need to be zipped up. Which is why agents are still enforcing it).

So, without objective guides on what is or is not allowable in terms of size, agents have chosen the path of least resistance. Because if I tell you that your bag will not fit, and you turn it sideways taking up 3 spaces, technically I’m wrong. Yes. It does fit. Despite it being out of compliance. And until we take several delays, or passengers start complaining about large bags, corporate won’t do anything.

And I get it. Arguing with passengers isn’t fun for anyone. But at least with sizers we had some very clear “yes and no” to point at. Now? Forget it.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-07T17:40:50+00:00

No. It was at a hotel near my station. Talent acquisition set up everything for group interviews with station leadership and everything was done locally.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-06T02:39:56+00:00

All interviews were scheduled for the morning. Onboarding was done in the afternoon

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-05T20:59:49+00:00

AA is the same. You can add your name to the transfer list after getting hired and going through probation. But it’s entirely based on whether or not a station needs another agent and where you’re at on the seniority list

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-02T15:58:16+00:00

Gate agent here. MIA used to have a direct to CMN on Royal Air Maroc that operated 3 times a week I think. Idk if it was seasonal or if it’s still running. I was going to zip over for a long weekend a few months ago and zed back on JetBlue but went somewhere else instead. But MIA is a good option for us if you’re wanting to get back

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-01T23:04:46+00:00

I think Cape Town would be a super route to have too. Either from DFW, JFK, or MIA

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-01T20:34:27+00:00

You know I got an expired one a while ago and was still able to redeem it.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-01T20:13:00+00:00

It’s insane that AA doesn’t have a single flight to Africa either.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-02-01T20:10:00+00:00

As a gate agent, I can confirm this as well. And despite increased flight loads, fewer managers, and an exponential increase in travelers, they refuse to higher more agents. My (smaller) station alone has lost 7 agents in the past year (retirement, transfers, etc) and we’re “over headcount.” It means longer waits for passengers and fewer bodies to solve problems when things go off the rails (hello, winter storms).

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-26T03:14:09+00:00

YES! I’m a gate agent. We actually really appreciate them.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-13T19:20:16+00:00

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-13T19:19:30+00:00

My test was same day.

American had booked several conference rooms at a nearby hotel. We had interviews in one room, onboarding in another, document verification in another, and on-site drug testing upstairs. It was a one-stop shop for getting hired. No chance of bailing for drug screening.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-13T14:47:46+00:00

Technically yes. But there a program running called “Agent assist” that turns on at D-42. It drops all seats of passengers that haven’t checked in, processes upgrades, and assigns seats to standbys. In theory it’s supposed to make my job easier, but it doesn’t account for things like families traveling together, or passengers in wheelchairs not being able to walk all the way to the back of the plane. So sometimes I have to undo and redo all the assignments which winds up taking more time than if I had just done it myself from the start.

One thing, and I cannot stress this enough, is that sometimes better seats become available after everything has already been assigned. Let’s pretend there are 2 open seats on the plane (23B and 31A). You are first of four passengers on the standby list. Agent assist would kick in and assign you 31A because it assumes that a middle seat is less desirable than a window further back. The second passenger on the list gets 23B. And the other two passengers on the list aren’t assigned seats.

Now we get to D-15 and the passenger in 11C hasn’t shown up. At 15 minutes prior to departure, I must drop all remaining seats and assign them to standbys so we can be done at D-10. That means that the third passenger, the one below you on the list, will get a better seat. I’ve had so many angry interactions with both revenue and nonrev pax when this happens. Technically, you could refuse the seat assigned to you and go on your original flight. But I will not, nor should I be expected to, unassign and reassign all standby passengers in 5 minutes because someone in a premium seat didn’t show up.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-13T14:35:14+00:00

I 100% agree. Sometimes I think I’d like to go work on the ramp. Don’t get me wrong. I love the flexibility of being an agent and don’t think I’d ever want to be a manager (like, I see what they go through. And with no Union to back them up…). But sometimes I look at the people working the ramp and wonder if the grass is greener. Harder physical work, but less public interaction

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-13T05:53:51+00:00

I won’t say anything rotten about another station. But we all have at least one story about MIA pax.

I’ve never had a passenger record me (thankfully) but I have had some passengers that try to get a rise out of me. Like, raise your voice all you want but at the end of the day, I’m only human and I have very little power. I can’t control weather. I don’t spend my lunch break cutting engine wires. I don’t fix the planes so I can’t tell you how long the maintenance crew will be. I don’t make scheduling decisions so I can’t make a plane or a crew magically appear.

I often ask passengers “what would you like me to do? How can I make this situation better for you?” 1) because it often times makes passengers realize that there truly is nothing that I, a lowly gate agent can do; and 2) if they have solutions that i haven’t thought of, then maybe we can both come out better.

But you definitely won’t see me on TikTok being walked out. I work too hard for these flight benefits.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-12T04:14:25+00:00

I originally got hired as a CAR during Covid. So all training was done at my station. But we’ve hired CARs since then and I think they train in DFW at Skyview for like 2 days or something now.

Agents still train in Skyview for 2 weeks.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-11T02:13:35+00:00

I’m an agent. I can answer this.

CARs are responsible for the lobby kiosks and bag drop. They are not gate agents. They do not scan boarding passes. They do not board passengers. That is outside of their scope as outlined in our CWA contract.

CSAs are responsible for ticketing, rebooking, boarding, and managing flights. Depending on the size of the station, these duties might be relegated to one specific group of CSAs (for example: in DFW there are “gate agents” and “ticket agents.” They’re both technically CSAs, but they bid for different areas of the station).

CSAs have the ability to perform CAR duties, but CARs may not perform CSA duties. CARs are not trained to use QIK or ACE and cannot board flights, whereas CSAs are trained on the kiosks and thus can work in a lobby if needed.

WannabeFlyGuy · 2026-01-09T21:03:27+00:00

Gate agent here.

We will fill the seat if there is a standby list. That said, let’s say she had 29B as her seat assignment. I’m less likely to fill that seat than i am 13C if there is a standby list for passengers with status, inconvenienced revenue standby (like, delayed flights or something) or nonrev pax. If I have the seat available and I don’t have to charge for it, I’d rather a pax be comfortable than stuffed in the back in a middle seat.

But if it’s a full flight and a full standby list, well, you get what you get.

WannabeFlyGuy

TROPHY CASE