Just yesterday Horizon Pilots received a bulletin of our latest Jumpseat Agreements. See below...
After much delay, the modernized (post 9/11) jumpseat access security system is now with us. Effective 9/1/04, Horizon Air, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and UPS begin a six-month testing program of CASS. You must realize that this jumpseat program is operated under the auspices of the Transport Security Administration (TSA) and the system is designed to verify that any and every jumpseater is an actual airline employee in good standing.
Among the testing carriers, the flight deck jumpseat is open to any other pilot of a CASS participating carrier. This means that the flight deck jumpseat at American and UPS is now open to QX pilots and vice-versa. Our arrangement with Alaska, however, has not been altered. The new system brings many changes to jumpseat protocols. Most of the changes will not be apparent, as they affect data that is transmitted to the TSA and other participating carriers. But there is one change that every jumpseater should be aware of. If you are planning to use the flight deck jumpseat on a CASS carrier, your passport is now the piece of identification required to access the flight deck jumpseat. This is in addition to the normal identification requirements of company IDS, certificates, etc.
These changes affect only CASS carriers and apply only to flight deck jumpseat riders. Otherwise, all of our existing jumpseat agreements are still in effect. It is important to note, however, our telephonic arrangement with Frontier will soon become a thing of the past and F9 pilots will lose the ability to jumpseat on QX’s flight deck. It hasn’t happened yet but we expect the other shoe to drop within days. When it does we will inform you right away. The reason? Frontier’s computer systems are not currently compatible with CASS requirements levied by the TSA.
It is anticipated that the Cockpit Access Security System will eventually become the jumpseat system industry wide. The bottom line, when it does, is that the carrier will be designated a CASS carrier and required to be ‘online’ with real employee data. The hope is that we, as an industry, can return to unrestricted jumpseating privileges. As with any new electronic system there will be some glitches. We ask for your understanding until the system is completely de-bugged.
