Ameriflight Previlege

[Country Wild]

I think we should all work together, it is a game of give and take.

 

[cactus]

Ameriflight lost jumpseat privileges on AWA a few years ago for moving crews around on us. They will probably never get them back.

 

[Trout]

Thats embarrassing. And I can't blame AMF mgmt because ultimatley the crews made the decision jump.

In 3 years I have never been asked to jumpseat instead of buying a ticket.

 

[AK737FO]

AMF & JS

When I was a young buck at AMF - my first job - I had no idea what the rules to jump seating were. I was asked by the company to jump seat on a weekly basis for company business. We (since many, many of us in the base were doing the same thing) usually used Horizon, and we rode all over the west coast to get ourselves into position for a flight.
Years later, when I had moved on to greener grass, I found out that I had been abusing the jump seat and saving AMF a ton of cash. The funny thing was that back then I almost always ended up in the jump seat, chit chatting with the crew- and if they asked where I was going or why, I told them - I'm going to get get my airplane or pick up this leg for a sick pilot... I told them the truth - that I was abusing the jump seat, (since I didn't know any better), and no-one ever questioned me or kicked me off the airplane.
One day, AMF decided to fire a guy while he was in the motel on a layover. They didn't want him to fly home in the PM. They told me to jump seat to where he was, pick him and his airplane up and bring us all home (on schedule of course) that night. Boy - that was a fun trip...

 

[Freight Dog]

Goes to show you why Airnet for example is in ALPA's jumpseat registry while AMF is not.

Too bad AMF didn't unionize...

 

[fraitman]

Before Freight Dog and some of you others get too far down the misinformation track and try to infringe on jumpseating privileges of other pilots, let's look at the facts. As an Ameriflight pilot, I abide by the rules, and so do my fellow pilots. First of all, if you don't know the Chief Pilots name and you think JJ in the Marketing Dept. has something to do with arranging pilot travel, you obviously wouldn't be too well informed on company policies. Travel is arranged in the BUR Flight Dept, Hazlet is head of the Maintenance department; I doubt he gets involved in travel arrangements either. I started working for AMF in OAK in 2000, and I have gone to training in BUR and SEA, temporary duty other bases, and in all company travel I received an airline ticket in my mailbox without asking. I just talked with five of my cohorts, mostly senior pilots, not one of the them I talked to has ever heard of management asking them to travel by jumpseating. Jumpseating is for pilots on their own travel agenda, and from what I have experienced AMF abides by the standard industry practice. It is company policy, if someone down the chain is not following the policy than talk with them or their supervisor. I hope most pilots are well enough educated that they will abide by the jumpseating rules and keep the opportunity open for the rest of us who value the privilege and support the industry.

 

[Freight Dog]

Frait, I probably know you in person since I was in OAK around the same timeframe you were. When Scott P. left for SWA, the entire OAK base went from awesome to sh*t. BUR Flight Dept KNOWS the jumpseat protocol and they abide by it right now (as of 2000 when I was there). The "new" OAK Asst CP either has no clue or doesn't care, and his buddy J.J. doesn't either. But both sure talk a big line. Once, I flew to OAK in a Chieftain with checks from BUR, I had to get Paul from BUR to buy me a ticket because these guys were telling me to "JUMPSEAT or you'll be up here for a looong time." This was a BUR-based run flown by BUR-based pilots that terminated in OAK one day of the week for some reason, and I was told that EVERYONE would just jumpseat back to BUR on their own. That is called repositioning crews because that pilot would be expected to fly his run starting in BUR the next day he had work. Hell, I also had to explain to a couple of dispatchers why jumpseating for company purposes is not an acceptable practice. Some people just don't know, and ignorance can cost AMF jumpseat access altogether.

As for Hazlet, grab the PIF book in BUR WX room and look back a few years. You'll see Hazlet openly admitting to using jumpseats for repositioning of crews. This was the cause for AMF to be kicked off the jumpseats at most carriers, and it will take quite a bit to regain access, at least official reciprocal agreements.

Personally, I think AMF pilots should be given more authority over jumpseat so people don't get left behind like one UAL guy (the dispatcher wouldn't wake up Stu or Hazlet in wee hours). Secondly, if more authority happens, then there should be a jumpseat coordinator at AMF who should be a line pilot. I don't think the mgmt really cares about jumpseating benefits for pilots. With a jumpseat coordinator working to restore access, he can also be used to EDUCATE the new hires about the protocol. It will be a process, and it can happen.

The union would have helped yas out ALOT!

 

[AK737FO]

I was long gone before 2000 so I certainly can not speak as to how things are today at AMF. When I was there, the JS was abused hard and put away wet...
I am glad to hear that things are changing.
"Back in the day" whenever a northwest pilot got in trouble (you know, those guys on Stu's speed dial), he was called up and told to report to BUR for "breakfast with Stu", (I prefered to call it BBQ with Stu, and your back side was on the grill...) - the method of transportation was ALWAYS the jump seat of a Southwest jet. Company travel to BUR and home for disciplinary purposes...
I have heard rumors that the quality of life is improving at AMF - I hope it is. Good pilots deserve better than what AMF use to dish out.

 

[CorpLearDriver]

It went on for years then they started buying tickets when other company jumpseat coordinators started calling them and asking about their jumpseat policies. Of course, since 9/11 things have changes and since I have not been there in some time, I cannot speak for the present policy. I did on many occations, reciprocate and flew SWA and Amer. West pilots on board the aircraft.

I got so I hated jumpseating and would only do it out of nescessity rather than for pleasure. However, I do know of a group of a few pilots that actually kept a logbook record of their jumpseating adventures and had contests. All I can say is I hope they finally got a life.

The problem with Hazlet is that he was using the jumpseat to reposition pilots which is a big no-no.

When I was there in 2000, it was still going on. I distinctly remember being asked to fly extra BUR-OAK being BUR-based, and they told me to jumpseat back to BUR so I can pick up my regular run.

 

[fraitman]

Interesting discussion that applies to many operators, not just AMF. It appears that something has changed. It is too bad for current Ameriflight pilots if we have fewer jumpseat opportunities than previous pilots because management abused the system in the past. I am happy with our current jumpseat status, not perfect, but it gets me around. Heck, SWA seems to fly just about everywhere these days, and they always give me a warm welcome when I board. Pilots at all companies need to get educated, involved, and support the rules of the system so airline management does not put more restrictions on it. I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a union to solve this problem. AMF and SWA do not have a pilot union, and the jumpseating agreement works out well for both groups of pilots. I don't know what happened years ago, wasn't working for AMF. I did a little research to try and understand the differing experiences of pilots contributing to this thread. I checked with my Chief, he told me that airline tickets are purchased for all pilot travel if there is not a convenient AMF flight to put them on. He has been here for 4 years and says he personally has never been asked to jump for company travel, and has been in mgmt for over two years and doesn't know of a situation where it has occurred. He says that Hazlet has nothing to do with it(although maybe he did years ago), there is no direct management approval involved in purchasing airline tickets. For example, the crew scheduler in OAK says he simply notifies a administrative assistant in BUR Flight Dept and the ticket is faxed. That is consistent with what I have experienced in over 2 years here and what other pilots here tell me. My Chief seemed well versed on protocol and says besides the memos he has put out, he briefs new pilots on jumpseating etiquette before their first attempt at it. Like he says, if we mess up, it is him as well that gets privileges taken away, and he has stated in memos several times if pilots don't dress right, aren't respectful and don't follow the rules, they will no longer be allowed to jumpseat and mess it up for others. So it sounds like current management is in tune with following the rules and past issues are resolved (I hope).

 

[Freight Dog]

Yeah, AMF was making improvements, let's hope for all AMF pilots that they squashed the bad apples when it comes to the protocol. However, I need to make a small correction, SWA pilots ARE unionized. They are represented by SWAPA (their in-house union). The reason I was saying to be unionized is that you would have work rules set in contract, and jumpseat issues are a part of the pilot contract. The specific changes to work rules I'm referring to is giving the pilot the authorization to carry a jumpseater and NOT making dispatcher DECIDE whether or not to call Stu or someone so THEY can decide whether or NOT to give this guy a ride. I told you about the UAL pilot left behind.

Having said that, and virtually all airlines (except SkyWest) being unionized, it would be that much easier to restore jumpseat access for AMF pilots. As is right now, your management can change your work rules at any time, if you refuse to do what they tell you i.e. abuse the jumpseat, they can potentially fire you. On top of that, there is already a history of jumpseat abuse there. I'm just saying this is how AMF is perceived among many airlines. Sure, you guys are on the right track, but more needs to be done to open more jumpseats for you guys.

 

[Sir Humpalot]

I think what many people from amf have to realize is that OAK and the rest of the company are on different terms. OAK is the worst run base with the worst chief pilot. He has a reputation of blaming others and making himself look good. The worst is the OAK management. He was a former cop who thinks that he is running microsoft. These jokers are a joke to aviation management. I have been working there for awhile and i see how they fire pilots at will or they make pilots resign for absurd reasons. Why do you think that OAK is always hiring, its not because they are growing. The xmas party was a joke because majority of pilots didnt even show up. That says something.