> The bottom level is going to sell out immediately, to people who don't require or need it. Look at how many front row or exit seats are taken by short people.
This is easily solved by the market. Either charge a premium for being able to reserve the bottom seat, or auction them off.
> But as someone over 6'5 with knee problems, I curse them silently in my head every time. Same will happen here.
Were those exit seats simply not available because they've been booked, or because you weren't willing to pay the premium?
Sure there exist solutions, but my point was, airlines don't do that today. I'd love to be able to auction on a front row aisle seat!
To your second question, booked of course. My entire point was they'll sell any seat to any person, first come first serve. The bottom would always sell out first, regardless of those who are physically able or not to even sit on top.
Airlines regularly accommodate disabled people. All you need to do is ask, either at booking time or at the airport. Also I'm not sure why you assume the bottom would sell out. I would always choose the top, because then I wouldn't have anyone climbing a ladder next to me, and I'd be farther from people in the aisle.
I'm already being downvoted to oblivion, might as well reply. The fact that airlines cater to disabled people isn't even in question, that much is obvious to anyone who has even seen a plane take off. What's in question is what if a disabled person wants a seat that was sold as a premium to someone else? I'll give you a hint, they won't get it. They have no problem shoveling your disabled body into a terrible seat. Furthermore, not all disabilities are covered. My brother for example nearly died of blood clots, and is on blood thinner forever. If he used this as evidence for a seat with more mobility, he'd be told to pound sand. Keep flagging me, munchkins.
Yeap. I help my mom get onto aircraft because she's semi-disabled. She automatically gets Pre check and a wheelchair for the jet bridge, and then walks on the plane. There's no way she could get into either of those seats because they require too much mobility. Furthermore, there's no way I could sit on the bottom or the top because there's just not enough headroom as I'm very tall in the seated height measurement.
Require airlines to reverse a proportion that can only be sold closer to the flight time (unless to a disabled person) or once the upper section is full. It seems like a solvable problem.
As you note, the problem already exists - I don't see this making it much _worse_. I regularly face a similar problem on trains (I _need_ a seat due to limited mobility, and seats are a scarce resource). The train companies cope - I don't see why airlines companies can't, or couldn't be made to.
This is easily solved by the market. Either charge a premium for being able to reserve the bottom seat, or auction them off.
> But as someone over 6'5 with knee problems, I curse them silently in my head every time. Same will happen here.
Were those exit seats simply not available because they've been booked, or because you weren't willing to pay the premium?