Been there, done that. I feel your pain. I normally jumpseat on AA & Eagle. First time I saw an RJ taxi out with 20 seats open in the back, but one Check Airman in the cockpit, it felt like I got a knife in the gut. (This was after waiting about an hour for the flight. The gate agent knew all along that the jumpseat was full, but never told me until boarding time.) On a one jumpseat aircraft, if an AA jumpseat is filled with a Check Airman, you are SOL--unless the gate agent wants to bend the rules and be nice (at some personal risk, I've been told). I've run into a couple of AA gate agents who seem to delight in denying the jumpseat and this is an easy way to do it. Now in all fairness, this has only happened a couple of times in the almost 200 times I've jumpseated on AA. Not bad odds, but it happens. Fortunately, I haven't seen these particular gate agents in a long time. Perhaps they moved on to "greener" pastures. Last time there was a Check Airman on the jumpseat the agent told me as soon as I showed up so I could work alternate arrangements ASAP, instead of waiting around for an hour (ref the previous example). Unfortunately, those are the rules and you've just have to grin and bear it. The fact that your airline grants unlimited jumpseats does not change their rules.
For every jumpseating horror story, I have an example of somebody who went out of their way to help out a jumpseating pilot.
To all the gate agents who understand our plight and try to help us out--Thank You!! Thank You!! Most of the gate agents are very professional and do the best they can to accomodate us within the rules. I've run into many more helpful agents than pr!cks.
To all the pilots who go the extra mile to help out a bud--Thank You!! Thank You!!
I'm a big believer in jumpseat karma. I do everything I can to help out jumpseaters--as a jumpseater and a captain. I've gone through alternate cities to allow another jumpseater (over whom I had priority--based on arrival time) to go through my original connecting city while I opted for a different connection. Hey, we are all in this together and we have to do whatever we can to help each other get to and from work. Fortunately, jetBlue has a very open policy that helps me do that. (What other company will allow pilots to ride FA jumpseats?) I'll do everything I can to prevent leaving ANYBODY behind. When you come aboard my flight I'd like you to stop by the cockpit so I can say "Thanks for flying jetBlue!" Since I often jumpseat on AA, I make the extra effort to tell AA jumpseaters how how happy I am to return the favor because I appreciate their efforts to accomodate me when I jumpseat on them.
The good karma has paid off several times--like the time the United captain had the gate agent pull the jetway back to the aircraft after the door had been closed. Despite already being bumped, at the last minuted the FAs discovered one seat left, and they went the extra effort to give it to me. Or how about the time that the same pr!ck gate agent from the RJ example above delighted in the fact that another jumpseater had already beat me to the 0530 flight? Well this other jumpseater (seeing what the gate agent was trying to do) whipped out a pass for himself so I could take the jumpseat slot--much to the chagrin of the gate agent! Thank You!! Thank You!!
Karma, Golden Rule, "What goes around comes around." Call it what you like, but we've all gotta do whatever we can to help each other out. If a gate agent is following the letter of the law, don't blame them. They didn't make the rules. Just look for another way. Happy jumpseating!
TC
