I have a dumb question: why "plug" the doors at all? Why not burn a row of seats and have an extra safety door? Was this at request of the airlines to "meet" minimum safety standards or was there a reason why it's "better" to have less exit doors?
If the regulators don't require the extra exit door, then the airlines would rather put in an extra row for more profits. The extra safety door is only needed depending on seating configuration.
And this just blew every bit of profit you could make off those extra seats.
That's what I figured.
Less cost and weight, and more rows. Only advantages there.