HOUSTON – A Houston-area man has accused an airline of discrimination, claiming he was asked to move from a seat in the emergency exit row because of his prosthetic leg.
"If I would have been wearing pants, that never would have happened," said Matthew Garza. He spoke to KPRC2 Wednesday from Detroit, one week after he flew Spirit Airlines from Bush Intercontinental to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Garza said he purchased two seats in the emergency exit row: one for him, another for his girlfriend. He said both were able to board their flight on Jan. 31, but it wasn't until after all passengers were boarded that a flight attendant approached him and asked him to move.
"Because I have a prosthetic I can't sit here and he was like, 'Technically, if you have a brace on your hand, you can't sit here,' and I was like, 'There wasn't anything online,' and he agreed with me. He even said it doesn't say that online," Garza said, referring to a conversation with a flight attendant.
KPRC2 looked into Spirit Airlines' seating policy and could not find specifics about requirements for passengers seated in the emergency exit row. The Federal Aviation Administration clarified the matter. On its website, the FAA states a passenger must "be physically capable and willing to perform emergency actions when seated in emergency or exit rows." A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration clarified further, saying while the agency sets the regulations, the airline crew decides whether a passenger seated in an emergency exit row is physically capable of sitting there.
Garza said he is physically capable. At 6 feet 2 inches tall, Garza told KPRC2 he regularly purchases seats in an exit row and never had a problem until last week. He believes had he not worn shorts, flight attendants would not have approached him.
"Even to people that know me, they don't ever notice it," Garza said. "If I would have been wearing pants, that never would have happened."
Garza said both he and his girlfriend were reseated to a smaller spot, they said, in the back of the plane.
"It's humiliating to do that, let alone in front of the whole boarded plane," said Karlie Gratz, Garza's girlfriend.
Both Garza and Gratz complained to Spirit Airlines about the matter after they landed. They said the airline offered to reimburse them for the price difference in seating. Garza maintained it's not about the money.
"It was more the way they went about it," Garza said. "I was morally embarrassed in front of everyone on the plane, over something, which, I would call nothing less than discrimination."
"We apologize for any inconvenience to the customer and we refunded his seat costs immediately," a Spirit Airlines representative said in an email to KPRC 2 News Wednesday night. "Our crew members follow strict federal regulations outlining passenger requirements to sit in the exit row. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew on board.
"In addition to a customer's verbal acknowledgement and acceptance of the exit row requirements, our agents and crew must also assess the suitability of each customer to perform the required functions to sit in this row through observation. Federal regulations require customers to have sufficient mobility, strength, or dexterity in both arms and hands, and both legs. If there’s any indication that a passenger may not be able to perform the exit row duties, they may be moved to a different seat with the safety of that customer and all customers onboard the flight in mind."