An exit row is a row of seats on board a commercial airliner that is next to an emergency exit. Exit rows may be next to overwing exits or full-sized exit doors. Passengers seated in exit rows may be required to assist crew members in the event of an emergency evacuation. Airlines typically provide specific government mandated guidelines on the front of the aircraft safety card that must be met in order to occupy an exit row seat. Passengers who do not meet these requirements will be reseated.
Most exit row seats provide a few more inches of seat pitch compared to non-exit row seats so that passengers have more space to access the exit. Seats in front of an exit row may not be able to recline, which can limit their comfort on longer flights. Nonetheless, airlines have taken advantage of this extra space by reserving exit row seats for frequent fliers or charging fees for booking them. However, these factors have led many passengers to disregard the responsibility that they have in case of an emergency.
A few hazards and problems exist with exit row seating. Passengers are typically required to operate "self help" or overwing exits in an emergency. This leads to problems because many passengers don't pay attention to the exit row briefing provided by flight attendants before each flight and don't read the aircraft safety card.
Typically, there are two kinds of exit rows in which passengers may be seated. There is the exit row next to overwing exits which are typically not attended to by flight attendants and require passengers to operate them in the event of an emergency. The second type of exit row is next to a full-sized exit door and a flight attendant is seated in these rows. The flight attendant typically sits on a jumpseat.