Originally Posted by
KPer
Vernon, optics aside... we have no assigned seating, so gate agents can’t “put” you somewhere. You really feel good about boarding early and grabbing an exit row seat and making a paying customer sit middle row against the aft bulkhead? You want that exit row seat for the same reason a paying customer wants it. Safety nor optics have anything to do with it.
I agree that crew should be allowed to sit there for safety reasons... in fact, I think it should be SOP, but I don’t run the airline.
I rarely ride SW but years ago I often used (and greatly appreciated) SW on my commute. When I was a pre-board, I normally sat on an aisle five or six rows from the front just to be somewhat out of the way yet not look greedy. That also helped expedite my walking up the cockpit when the flight ended up full without disturbing others.