[VietVet876]

Shoulda flown Southwest. Pick your own seats. Sit together. Probably cheaper, too.

[Svartalfiar]

Murdock, who is black, asked a flight attendant whether he could move to an empty emergency exit row behind him to sit alongside his son, who was seated in a different row.

Why not just wait til the seat belt sign turns off, then move there? No one is going to care, The FAs aren't going to watch you and ask you to move back. It's just like a baseball game - you have assigned seats, but any empty seats are up for grabs. The only issue is if someone else has that seat number, and you don't move when they show up. But on a flight, no one new is gonna show up and tell you you're in their seat.