AA jumpseat policy

[bothfly]

That's strange. Not sure why they turned down Skywest.
I'll submit them again.

 

[dispatchguy]

AA J/S Policy

Ok then, question

How come AA/AEA will not allow offline dispatchers the same professional courtesy that most other airlines do? That offline dispatchers can also ride as a cabin-riding jumpseater?

The sabre star F*SHRIOU in RES specifically states "Dispatchers not included." Glad to see that someone at AMR doesnt think that my DX certificate is a REAL airman's certificate.

When I was at Eagle, that got me shot out of several j/s rides, because when I would ask for a ride, and station would call dispatch to see if I could, they would (rightly) say no, since I couldnt reciprocate.

I have an AA FM1 from the mid 80s, and the restriction was there back then, and in my AE FM1, it was still there. In the AA FM1 I found at DFW one day, it was there still.

It always pi&&ed me off to no end - showed how little respect that AMR managment had for our profession.

At the airline I now work at, we'll take any 121 certified airman (pilot, DX, and A&P) as a cabin-riding offline jumpseater - thats how it SHOULD be!

 

[socalpilot]

Thanks for all the info. I appreciate all the input.

 

[dgs]

First of all, put yourself in the gate agent's shoes. At the risk of offending almost everybody on this board, I'm going to say gate agents probably have the most difficult job in this business. They get it from all directions--pax, crew, and other company employees. The last thing they want is lip from an offline jumpseater who is riding for free.

As a frequent jumpseater, I've run into a few grumpy gate agents and I try to empathize with them. The worst was an ex-TWA agent working for AA in STL. He was just mad at the world and you didn't want to get in his field of fire.

Just be as nice and polite as you can be. Avoid confrontation at all cost--it makes both of you look bad. Remember, he/she controls your fate unless you can get to the Captain. Even then, you may have to deal with them again, so it doesn't behoove you to pi** them off. I pass out miniature candy bars to gate agents and sometimes crewmembers--just a way of saying "Thanks. I appreciate your effort."

At jetBlue we have an unrestricted jumpseat policy and will fill up the cabin and our 2 extra FA jumpseats with all the non-revs we can fit. Of course, with loads at 86%, we may not always be able to take as many as want to go. I've been left at the gate while an RJ with a check airman in the jumpseat pushed back with 10 empty seats in the back. It isn't fair, but those are the rules. I almost got bumped today when the Captain thought he already had too many jumpseaters.

The best thing for us all will be to continue to ask our jumpseat coordinators, companies, unions, etc. for expanded jumpseat authorizations to any empty cabin pax or FA jumpseat. Until we can get the cockpit jumpseat back, we need to do everything we can to accommodate our commuting buddies!

In the mean time, if you have a problem, get the details and report it to your jumpseat coordinator. They can pass the info to the other company rep. Let that company handle it in their own way. We had an incident early on in company where a Captain had denied one of us a ride for no good reason. He got a lot of heat from his peers who had discovered how easy it is for both pilots and FAs to jumpseat on jetBlue, and who didn't want to lose the privilege because of one jerk. The pilots from that company were very apologetic whenever they heard a jetBlue callsign on the radio for the next couple of months. It is in everybody's best interest to cooperate so everybody can get to work with minimum hassle, so let's all play nice and "share our toys in the sandbox!!"

 

[skydiverdriver]

Don't forget Comair, we allow have 51 jumpseats on all of our jets, and anyone can ride if we have room. I didn't know that SWA only allowed certain companys multiples, so does that include Comair pilots? We have had the multiple policy for years, except for a short time after Sept 11th, and welcome anybody in the cabin. I wish everyone could do this, and it took no concessions on our part.

As for the dispatcher thing, I used to be a dispatcher for a USAirways WO'd. I got stuck in BWI one time and the American captain let me ride up front (pre Sept 11th). After we were in the air, he looked at his ops manual, and said to me, "you were never on this flight." I was very appreciative. However, I once booked an American dispatcher on my js, and asked him about this policy. He told me that the ops manual says only cockpit crew were allowed in the js, but there was another book somewhere that stated dispatchers WERE considered cockpit crew. I never got the reference from him, but I let him ride as they let me go previously.

I wish I could find out more about that. But, I'm not a dispatcher anymore, and I rarely go on AA. Thanks for the help.

 

[dispatchguy]

In the SABRE RES profile F*PSM/JUMPSEAT, and in the SABRE star record F*SHRIOU it specifically says that offline dispatchers are not authorized to ride as a D6 - an offline cabin-riding jumpseater.

Applies to AA, AE, and the ex-TWA flights.

Gotta love CMR, excellent policy!

 

[cpritchie5]

AA is working hard with other carriers with Universal access to allow reciprocating airline pilots back into the cockpit. With the new under-secratary of aviation security hopefully it will come soon.