Date: 201708
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Aircraft: B737-800
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Off Duty
Reporter qualification: Flight Attendant Current
Human factors: Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct
Detector: Person Flight Attendant
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: General None Reported / Taken
Contributing factors: Company Policy; Human Factors; Procedure
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: During boarding; I noticed an elderly couple limping toward the exit row where I had already taken my seat. Sure enough; the elderly woman; who was also very large; had to hold onto every seat back as she slowly struggled down the aisle toward the exit row; then with difficulty and using every seatback/armrest as a crutch; hobbled into her window seat. Her husband also seemed physically impaired and walked incredibly slowly but somewhat less so than his wife. He then took his seat [with me sitting between them]. I struck up a conversation with them; asking if they wanted to sit together; and did they know that they were in an Emergency exit row. They declined my offer; but admitted that they booked the seats because of the extra legroom. I asked if the woman was ok; and told her I'd noticed her difficulty walking--she admitted she had had knee surgery in the past. She did not have any noticeable braces. Again; I reminded them that they were in an emergency exit-they did not comment further. When the working flight attendants came to ask the 'are you willing and able to assist in an emergency' question; they both answered in the affirmative.    I did bring up my observation to the crew working in economy later in the flight but they both said that they did not witness this couple's slow and belabored journey to the exit row. This was due to the fact that one of them was busy setting up the economy galley during most of the boarding time; and the other was stationed at the boarding door as a 'greeter'. So; for most of the boarding process; there was nobody in the aisle. In addition; they said that because they'd gotten an affirmative answer to the question; there was nothing they could do. I feel that if I had been working the flight; I might've run into the same problem-and have before. When/if the Flight Attendant (FA) does not actually see the person display something that looks like it could impede their ability to open the window exit quickly; such as limping/weakness/a brace/cast; portable oxygen container etc; it is difficult to remove someone from that row when they deny any such disability.   I personally felt unsafe with this obviously physically impaired woman in charge of opening the exit that was closest to me. She was also so large that I doubt she could've either gotten out of the window quickly (she would definitely not have been able to open it-she tried; but literally could not bend over to pick up the soda can that fell off of her tray table) or even gotten out of the way so that others could get out quickly.     I do know that the actual chances of having to evacuate are relatively slim; but that is beside the point. All of our safety training/knowledge and rules are in place not because of what *usually happens* but what *might happen*.    To that point; I feel that our (and the FAA's) directives on exit row restrictions are too lax and open to exploitation. People choose their seats online most of the time and are obviously ignoring the pop-up warnings to not choose those seats if they are impaired in any way. They simply want the legroom--just as the elderly gentleman (who was actually wearing Velcro strap tennis shoes--he couldn't even tie his shoes!) admitted when I reminded them that they were in an emergency exit. The Customer Service (CS) agent; who also questions passengers seated in exit rows during the ticket scanning process is under pressure to get flights out on time and are frequently overworked. As long as the passenger in question answers affirmatively to their question; again; they cannot remove them; unless there is an obvious brace; crutches etc. Many times; the overworked CS agents allow passengers like this to board in the hopes that the FAs will sort out the problem on-board--be it an obvious child in the exit row or someone impaired like this couple obviously was. It happens all the time.However; we flight attendants are also understaffed. On this particular flight; the 2 FAs working in First Class (FC) were busy setting the forward galley up for service and completing the comprehensive and time consuming pre-departure drink service--which takes the entire boarding process and taxi time to finish in most cases. Passengers often ask for second drinks before the flight takes off--sending the FA back and forth during boarding. We used to give just a small selection of OJ; water or champagne before push-back in FC which was far more conducive to having the time needed to complete cabin safety checks. I feel that because of the poor staffing we have on all of our flights--some worse than others--we are missing things like unsuitable passengers in the exit row and many other; perhaps more dangerous issues.I certainly do not feel safe with the way the regulations are being applied at my airline. The procedures seem to be insufficient in weeding out those who definitely shouldn't be in the exit rows; and we FAs; the trained safety professionals; have almost no power to be able to ensure a suitable person IS at the exit. We have also been told recently that our job is to 'inform; not enforce' the regulations. (Not limited to exit rows.)  Also; it must be mentioned that 'persons of size' should never be seated at an exit WINDOW; (door exit rows excluded) as they would not fit easily/quickly and would most likely impede others' egress in an emergency when fractions of a second count. I cannot fathom how it is actually allowed at my airline and how it is that we are required to provide an extension to those who cannot fit in the standard aircraft seatbelt.




Synopsis: Deadheading Flight Attendant reported the screening process for emergency exit row passengers which only requires an affirmative answer to the question 'are you willing and able to assist in an emergency?' The passengers in question were obviously not able.