I typically fly at least once a month for work, and with my level of status on American Airlines, I’m usually able to get a free upgrade to an emergency exit row seat. When checking in to my flights on the American Airlines app, it presents me with the exit row seat criteria and requires me to accept the criteria as pictured below.
During the boarding process when I scan my boarding pass QR code at the gate, I usually tell the gate agent that “I am ready, willing, and able to assist in the event of an emergency.” A vast majority of the time the gate agent says “thank you” in appreciation for me doing my little part to expedite the boarding process. In rare occurrences, the gate agent says that they have to be the one asking me the question, and I have to respond affirmatively, so even after I tell them that I’m ready, willing, and able to assist in the event of an emergency, they will ask me if I’m ready, willing, and able to assist in the event of an emergency, and I say “Yes.” Sometimes the gate agent will even get visibly frustrated with me, presumably for having the audacity to do their jobs for them.
This prompted me to research the Code of Federal Regulations, and the relevant language seems to be in 14 CFR § 121.585 Exit seating. In short, the airline (“certificate holder”) must determine the suitability of persons occupying exit row seats. However, it does not explicitly say how that determination must be made, in terms of the exact words used or whether the airline representative must ask or if the passenger is allowed to volunteer this information.
Because I could not find publicly available information about American Airlines policies, I asked ChatGPT to help. Here are excerpts of what ChatGPT told me.
What American Airlines says publicly (and what’s visible)
American’s agent/agency materials and SalesLink references (AA internal/partner pages) explicitly list the same exit-seat criteria (able to operate the exit, age, etc.) and discuss that customers should be pre-qualified before placing in an exit seat. Those materials imply the airline expects staff (or travel partners) to confirm eligibility when assigning exit seats. However, the SalesLink pages are internal/partner resources (not a public passenger policy) so they don’t show a single public script or a prohibition against passengers volunteering their readiness.
Source: https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/resources/html/emergency-exit.html
What AA crew training / operations indicate
American’s training materials reference exit-row briefings and exit-row procedures for crew, which is consistent with FAA practice that flight attendants must brief and obtain an affirmative confirmation from exit-row occupants once on board. Those crew/training references are internal (FAPortal) and not public in full, but they show AA treats exit-row verification as a formal, trained step.
Source: https://faportal.aa.com/html/Training/PDFs/CQ2025-2026_WhatToExpect10SEP25.pdf
Practical conclusion (why you see variation)
Because the FAA leaves the method of “determination” to the airline’s approved procedures, airlines set their own internal SOPs. American appears to have internal guidance (SalesLink / training) about exit-row criteria and verification — but I could not find any public AA policy that (a) requires gate agents to ask a fixed scripted question at the gate, or (b) forbids accepting a passenger’s proactive statement.
The on-the-ground inconsistency you see (most agents accepting your preemptive statement, others saying “I have to ask”) is therefore entirely plausible: some agents follow a practical, customer-friendly approach; others follow a conservative reading of company procedure or habit (or their system/booking workflow prompts them to require a specific confirmation). Forums and crew posts back up that gate behavior varies.
Source: https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/resources/html/emergency-exit.html
As a passenger in an emergency exit row seat, do you proactively state to gate agents that you are ready, willing, and able to assist in the event of an emergency, and have you experienced similar variation? Or are you an airline agent, and can you comment on what your airline's policies are on this matter?
