FA makes passenger move from exit row

[BWIflyer]

First time in 31 years of flying that I have ever witnessed this.  FA was going through the routine of asking those of us sitting in the exit row if we were "willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency".  The same line we have all heard before. When he says he needs a verbal "yes" from us all, the guy behind me in the exit window(we were on a new 737-800), evidently nodded his head "no".  

FA then says "so are you saying you are not willing and able?"  The guy then says he was sorry, he misunderstood, but yes he is fine with assisting.  Now it gets interesting.

The FA tells the guy tha since he already indicated he was unwilling, he will now have to reseat him.  Really?  So we spend the next ten minutes waiting past pushback time, while the passenger argues with the FA, and is ultimately moved.

Overkill?

[bec102896 · Accepted solution]

Safety is a big deal if a person shakes there head no then yes I do feel they should be moved because if an actual emergency occurred he might not actually assist. He should not have argued with the FA either because the FA could have kicked him off the plane for not complying with crew members instructions which is also in the saftey beefing before take off 

Saftey first! 

[chgoflyer]

Sounds like overkill to me. Once the passenger said that they misunderstood and were in fact willing to assist, it should have been a non-issue. This however is one area that the FAs take very seriously, so it's not surprising he was reseated. I've seen pax moved from the exit row before -- once because they didn't speak fluent English (they were traveling with their adult daughter, who did) and once because the passenger's wife and minor child was in the row directly in front of the exit row. Ultimately, arguing about anything an FA does is useless, since it's their domain and they wield complete power.