AA jumpseat policy

[socalpilot]

Can someone explain the AA jumpseat policy to me? I work for an offline airline and like to jumpseat on AA/TWA to STL. I was trying to jumpseat out of BWI to STL and ran into some problems with the gate agent. It is my understanding that for offline pilots we must have a seat in the back and the number of cockpit jumpseats equalls the number of jumpseaters allowed onto the aircraft. The agent said we already have a jumpseater. I mentioned to the agent that the aircraft is a 757 and has 2 jumpseats therefore you should be able to take 2 jumpseaters. The guy started yelling at me and told me that I didn't work for American and that I shouldn't be questioning him about the policy. I didn't do anything to provoke this behavior. I was very proffessional about the whole thing and found another way home. I really depend on jumpseating to get between work and home. What is a commuter to do? Will we ever see an actual cockpit jumpseat again? Anyway, if somebody from AA/TWA could explain the policy to me I would appreciate it.

 

[English]

You will never win an argument with an AMR gate agent. Next, time, try to catch the captain before he/she gets on the plane and have the captain run interference.

 

[enigma]

That was just a sorry agent. Unfortunately, all you can do, is wait for a flight with a more professional agent. ENGLISH is correct, try and catch the Captains eye when he gets to the airplane.

I beg rides off of AA all the time, and am treated very well; but policy seems to be set by the station instead of the airline, because there is a lot of variance between stations. However, I would say that in general, AA will take as many jumpseaters as the airplane has cockpit jumpseats.

regards,
8N

BTW, AA used to have an agent in CLE that hated jumpseaters. One day in 2000, he told me that I could only ride if I physically occupied the cockpit jumpseat. He actually came into the airplane and told the lead FA that I was to sit in the cockpit. When I heard him saying that to the FA, I told the FA that I would sit wherever I was told and that I was just happy to be on the airplane. The FA sat me in first class. Once we were in cruise, the FA informed the Captain what the agent had said and the Captain almost went ballistic. When we landed, the Captain appologized for the agent and said that he would have the agents *ss next time he went through CLE. "No agent is going to tell me where I put a jumpseater on my airplane"! I requested that he not say anything, and I don't know what ensued; but that agent was nicer next time. I hope that he was just having a bad day. I went out of my way on subsequent commutes to be nice to that agent, but he was always a little cold.

 

[Draginass]

Please forward your experience to your jumpseat coordinator for you union and have them forward to the APA jumpseat coordinator. Include as many details (date, time, gate, flight number, agent's name, etc) as you can remember.

It's one thing to be ignorant, but to be stupid AND jerk is unforgivable. So far I haven't run into anyone as bad as the one you came across. Don't take it lying down. You may consider stopping another American pilot (even if just walking through down the concourse) when something like that happens and tell him. If it were me, I'd stop what I was doing, go to the gate and call the agent aside and inform him/her of the policy. If that didn't do the trick or the agent was surly with me, you can bet there would be a very BIG deal made out of it. I don't take that kind of crap, especially out a gate agent with an attitude. You are doing American pilots a disservice if you don't tell us about incidents like this, so we can correct them.

 

[bothfly]

In the new day and age of Jumpseatting, if you can still call it that. It sure would be nice if all the JS coordinators at all the airlines got together and agreed to unlimited JS in the cabin. Who cares if there is one or two JS in the cockpit. If there is an open seat in the back, let them all ride.

 

[Boeingman]

It is not up to the JS coordinators at our airline over the seat policy. The company has put into place the rule about limiting the number of JS's to what is available in the cockpit.

The offline cockpit JS priviledge now is just about worthless with the airplanes filling up with garbage fares.

 

[Draginass]

Regardless of the non-cost, most managements will not go along with it unless concessions are made in the contract. Managements will define a dollar "worth" to an unlimited jumpseat policy and demand tit for tat at the bargaining table. It's got nothing to do with goodwill, just business. Labor is a cost unit, and that's how they really look at it - regardless of the touchy-feely propaganda campaigns.

 

[flight-crew]

I've had to "educate" NW gate agents many times on the correct jumpseat procedure. I'm at the point now where I just keep my cool and simply say "I would like to speak to the Captain." Rule #1- Speak to the Captain. More power to you if you can grab the Captain before he/she boards the airplane.

 

[bothfly]

Here at SWA where have several companies that have multiple JS agreements with us. ATA, AWA, Alaska and Horizon. Flt op's has said to pass on any carriers info to hopefully add them to our multiple agreements.
But like someone said. Loads are very heavy with cheapo tickets, but I hate to leave any brother or sister at the gate.
Lets keep working on this.

 

[s.o.sJTB]

Flt op's has said to pass on any carriers info to hopefully add them to our multiple agreements.

Skywest offers unlimited jumpseaters to all airlines, seats available of course, but was turned down by SWA for an unlimited recip. agreement. SWA has always been a great way to jumpseat,with cool crews and agents.

 

[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.