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FedEx jumpseat article from 9/30 C.A.

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VaB

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 26, 2001
Posts
512
A bunch of words that don't really explain much.

Link

FedEx suspends jumpseating
Personal privilege is stopped after internal security review
By Jane Roberts

September 30, 2005

FedEx Express has taken the rare step to suspend personal jumpseat privileges, citing an internal security review.
In an internal memo dated Aug. 15, Express executive vice president Dave Rebholz said the company had "made the difficult decision" to suspend personal jumpseating, and could not say when it would be reinstated.
Pilots, mechanics and corporate employees may still use the jumpseat for business travel.
"We suspended personal jumpseating after an intermittent review of our security procedures," said Maury Lane, spokesman.
"We don't discuss security reviews or how they're done."
Free personal travel in company planes has been a perk at FedEx nearly since the company began. It has one of the most generous jumpseating policies in aviation, allowing any Express employee to use the jumpseat for leisure travel to any destination it flies.
While Lane says "no single event" brought about the change, pilots for weeks have said "three suspicious" passengers raised concerns on a flight from California to Memphis this summer.
An August message on Jetflyer -- an online newsletter for FedEx pilots -- says they were allowed to fly, even though they had no luggage and acted suspiciously.
The message was posted by Memphis-based Airbus-300 first officer Mark Koszalka.
He had no comment Wednesday about the allegations.
In his entry, Koszalka said the incident was so suspicious, the plane's pilot, Memphis-based Capt. Mike Mullally, copied details to the FBI and Transportation Security Administration details.
Mullally could not be reached.
Neither the FBI nor TSA is investigating a jumpseat incident in Memphis.
Nor is the Federal Aviation Administration involved, according to spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The agency was also not part of a recent security review at FedEx.
"The company decided to make some changes," she said. "I'm not sure any specific incident targeted it."
Dave Webb, chairman of the FedEx unit of the Air Line Pilots Association master executive council, said he'd heard other versions of the story, but said, "Everyone has told me they have no information."
FedEx suspended jumpseat privileges for the first time immediately following 9/11.
It briefly resumed them for business travel in August 2002 before suspending again in 2003 for six months while the company installed metal doors between the cabin and cockpit.
Nonpilot "stagers" -- people with company permission to jumpseat to work from their homes -- now must have approval from two layers of management to fly.
"The point is they can still get on the jumpseat. They really haven't stopped people from using it," Webb said.
Jumpseating has been a touchy issue with FedEx pilots since April 7, 1994, when a jumpseater, fellow pilot Auburn Calloway, attempted to hijack a FedEx plane bound for San Jose, Calif.
Calloway boarded the plane as a jumpseat passenger, and soon after takeoff attacked the three crew members with a hammer he carried aboard the DC10 in a guitar case.
He severely injured his colleagues in the ensuing fight and was gravely injured in the process.
The crew subdued Calloway and returned to Memphis International Airport without loss of life or property.
Since 9/11, company policy now requires criminal background checks every six months for employees who wish to use the jumpseat. They must also pass a certification test and be screened for non-approved items before boarding.
FedEx now also limits jumpseating to domestic flights on wide-body jets where the seat is outside the cockpit.
Although the suspension eliminates personal travel for all FedEx employees, its pilots may still travel for free on other airlines through the TSA's national Cockpit Access Security System, a program engineered by a coalition of pilot unions that allows ticketing agents to verify a pilot's identity and employment status before being admitted on board.
 
I'm getting pretty sick of this! Fed Ex guys will never be denied a jumpseat on my flight, but how much longer are we going to have to put up with this. I can sit in the physical jumpseat of a Delta, United, Continental, and SWA jumpseat to name a few, but I can't on FedEx. In the mean time I've seen FedEx guys given the jumpseat ahead of guys who can receprocate the privalege. Yes I know they're in contract talks but I've been in contract talks before and they never used the jumpseat as a threa
 
A19,

I'm no FedEx captain, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.

I'm sure the FDX guys will chime it for verification, but they have said several times in the past that offline jumpseaters were not affected. So if you're airline is part of CASS (the full version which was released last week or so), then you can JS on FedEx.


My personal take on this is...and brand me a conspiracy theorist...this is a convenient way during contract negotiations to remind the employees at FedEx that it was a pilot (the hijacker dude) who started this mess for them, and that they pilots still travel for free due to CASS (the last sentence).

This was just posted in another thread, causing me to further believe that offline jumpseating is alive and well in Memphis. Someone in 'the know' chime in with the real scoop please.



av8trix said:
Seven pages in two days....that has to be a record.

On a positive note, one airline that has a great jumpseat policy is FedEx. If they have a seat 24 hours prior to departure, you are guaranteed to get it (Captain permitting). Not like us, where you can get bumped by higher priority on your way up the stairs. They are a great way to get a ride. I ride on them more than on UPS because I know I won't get bumped. And with the mail contract, you don't have to wait until 3 AM.

All CASS riders are welcome on UPS....for free...we even feed you!
 
A19 said:
I'm getting pretty sick of this! Fed Ex guys will never be denied a jumpseat on my flight, but how much longer are we going to have to put up with this. I can sit in the physical jumpseat of a Delta, United, Continental, and SWA jumpseat to name a few, but I can't on FedEx. In the mean time I've seen FedEx guys given the jumpseat ahead of guys who can receprocate the privalege. Yes I know they're in contract talks but I've been in contract talks before and they never used the jumpseat as a threa

Any pilot of a CASS approved airline may ride a FedEx jupseat.
 
A19 said:
I'm getting pretty sick of this! Fed Ex guys will never be denied a jumpseat on my flight, but how much longer are we going to have to put up with this. I can sit in the physical jumpseat of a Delta, United, Continental, and SWA jumpseat to name a few, but I can't on FedEx. In the mean time I've seen FedEx guys given the jumpseat ahead of guys who can receprocate the privalege. Yes I know they're in contract talks but I've been in contract talks before and they never used the jumpseat as a threa
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Lighten up, Francis. This article (assuming you read it) is about the FedEx EMPLOYEES losing their personal jumpseat privileges. CASS is unaffected.
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FNG_that's me said:
A19,


My personal take on this is...and brand me a conspiracy theorist...this is a convenient way during contract negotiations to remind the employees at FedEx that it was a pilot (the hijacker dude) who started this mess for them, and that they pilots still travel for free due to CASS (the last sentence).

I think most pilots could really give a hoot whether or not the other employees are mad at us. They should be mad at FedEx mgmt for the constant erosion of their benefits and retirements. But, hey, I'm just the dumb pilot that doesn't let the box smashers get to OAK to hang out with the other "raider nation" bubbas.
 
I'm getting pretty sick of this! Fed Ex guys will never be denied a jumpseat on my flight, but how much longer are we going to have to put up with this.

A19 - I would like you to make another post on this thread. Could you please explain what it is you are putting up with? Thank you.
 
I did realize it was for employee's but thanks, I'm just stating it's a bit of b#tch, when your Memphis based, and because we don't have photo's in CASS system I can't jumpseat, but I can on say Continental. Also a friend of mine tried to jumpseat on you guys the other week and was told by the station they were not taking any jumpseaters.
 
VaB said:
But, hey, I'm just the dumb pilot that doesn't let the box smashers get to OAK to hang out with the other "raider nation" bubbas.

Classic!!


A19 said:
I did realize it was for employee's but thanks, I'm just stating it's a bit of b#tch, when your Memphis based, and because we don't have photo's in CASS system I can't jumpseat, but I can on say Continental. Also a friend of mine tried to jumpseat on you guys the other week and was told by the station they were not taking any jumpseaters.

Sounds like your company needs to get into compliance with CASS. Digital pictures for everyone by sometime next year.
As for your friend, perhaps that flight was full, perhaps they messed up and gave him bad gouge, perhaps he's FOS.

Let's not give the only airline that lets a jumpseater acutally reserve a seat too much crap!!
 

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