Reply To: Middle seat too narrow to sit in!

[NorthernLass]

It’s unlikely any aircraft seat would be permanently out of use. I’m betting our VIE-LHR flight was the exact same one as yours, when we encountered this.
We had a crew member who knew how to disengage the armrests and put them back to their original position – then a short time later the people in the adjacent row had the same issue, and my OH, who had been watching what the crew member did, was able to adjust theirs for them.
IIRC there was some kind of mechanism underneath the arm rest which needed tinkering with.
It sounds like your crew couldn’t be bothered tbh, I would have kicked up a right fuss if I’d had to sit with my hips being crushed for 2 hours!