[exairlineemployee]

My husband and I were seated in the exit row on flight 391 CLT-LAS. Just before closing the doors, a non-rev and her spouse boarded the plane. The spouse who was approx. 2 times the size of the seat, wedged himself into the seat between my husband and I. He obviously knew that if he asked for a seat belt extender, he would be disqualified from the exit row, so he just tucked the seat belt so it would appear that it was buckled. He never got out of his seat the entire 4 1/2 hrs. of the flight and when he did get out of the seat at the end of the flight, he had to wait for us to get out of our seats so he could use the arm rests to un-wedge himself. Not only could I not use the tray table (located in the armrest) due to his body hanging over the armrests, I was forced to sit leaning into the window and my husband was forced to sit leaning into the aisle for the entire flight. In addition to the discomfort of the flight, there definetly was a safety issue here. This man could not have asissted in an emergency as he would not have been able to get out of the seat quickly. Upon contacting USAirways, this was their response:
"I’m sorry you were faced with an uncomfortable situation when you were seated next to a person whose size exceeded the width of their seat. As you may know, carriers are not required to provide two seats to a large individual if only one seat is purchased. A second seat may be purchased by our customers for their and your comfort. If such a situation should occur on a future flight, please speak with your Flight Attendant. I am unable to honor your request for compensation due to this issue."
No mention that they have a policy of requiring an individual of large size to purchase a second seat and also no mention that this was a non-revenue passenger or the safety issues involved with the situation.