American Jumpseat Question

[AA717driver]

Sorry, AA only counts one jumpseat. The company treats the JS like it's guarding Ft. Knox. Having experienced SWA and TWA, this is puzzling and disappointing.

Maybe someday they will understand...NAH! TC

 

[chperplt]

I guess I've been lucky with SW. Every time I've jumped on them there has been a number of JSers and I've never had a problem.

 

[sfomarc]

P.S. By the way, this SWA supervisor actually went down the jetway to INSTRUCT the SWA Capt. to only take 2 jumpseaters even though there were lots of seats.

Do you know there name and what base they were out of? It is true that there are a few airlines that have a multiple reciprocating jumpseat agreement with but I have never been with a captain who turned one down if a seat is open. If you can meet the captain in the jetway or a deplanning employee on a through flight, they might be able to get your message down to the captain.

 

[yaks]

AA jumpseat

Sorry to hear about the bad experiences and I do sympathize with everyone as a former commuter for many years. The truth is the agents treat everyone poorly here. My wife non-revs routinely and frequently complains to me about the rude treatment by the agents. I have tried to open the discussion regarding more jumpseats several times and every time some moronic management toad tries to tell us how it is too expensive. Pretty funny since my previous (low cost) carrier had unlimited jumpseat and it was great for morale and interline relations. I am pretty sure AA is in the current predicament it is because we have truly thick-headed management. All I can say is the pilots are on your side.

 

[MachPi]

AA 737s have 2 jumpseats; one sometimes is "full up" with a cushion, sometimes it's bare metal. Regardless, it's always extra work for the agent and the CA to open that second jumpseat. For some asinine reason, a call to Loads has to be made to open it (and before anyone gets to speculating what the reason is, it of course involves CG, which doesn't make it less asinine).

All the captains I've flown with will open that second jumpseat if it has a cushion (some will even open it if it doesn't) if they know someone needs it. Most agents won't acknowlege its existence unless the Captain calls attention to it.

Bottom line, try to talk to the CA beforehand about jumpseating. If he knows you're there, he'll probably bend over backwards to help you out.

 

[Thedude]

Well here is one that was tried on me.
A gate agent told me that the flight is weight restricted and I propably would not get on (btw had problems with this agent in the past). Well I just happen to fly the same aircraft, a 727, and my mind started spinning on what could be wriiten up on a 727 to cause it to be weight limited on a 60 F day on a 10,000' runway at 600'MSL......hmmmm. yet another case of gate agents hating pilots....

 

[MachPi]

One more thing about that 2nd AA 737 jumpseat: obviously if you're an OAL pilot, it doesn't matter if there's a nice comfy cushion there or not, so as long as there's room in the back, 2 jumpseats can be made available...as long as the CA knows you're there.

 

[flight-crew]

ALPA needs to start incorporating an "Unlimited Jumpseater" clause into all future pilot contracts for each individual airline. Obviously this is something that would take years. But this would solve all of this b.s., and all the hassles of having to carry passes, I.D. 90s, etc.

I certainly hope this is done in my career.

 

[viking737]

Thedude
My guess on the 727 weight restriction on the long runway is
that it must have been based on Max Landing Weight.

 

[Ty Webb]

Even if it is landing-weight based, 200 lbs is nothing- even in our fuel-miser BR715's they burn a 100#/min!