Offline Jumpseating to come back AUG 10

[Sleepyhead]

Got this from another aviation forum:

"I was talking to some SWA pilots on my commute the other day from PHX-BUR about the jumpseat. They had info in their newsletter about the TSA jumpseat test. They said that beginning 8/10 that they would be able to fly in the cockpit on other carriers by having the bar code on their ID's scanned to verify their employment. Other carriers included in this test according to the article were Continental, ATA, and 2 or 3 others..."

I also read a post that explained it will take several months for other carriers to get the system up and running on their companies computers.

As I understand it, you will not be able to offline jumpseat until your airline gets the system running on their own computers.

 

[tittyjet]

WO Regionals

Pilots for WO regionals whose parent companies are ATA members will be included in the program if the parent company agrees to this.

NWA has agreed to this provision for Pinnacle as soon as the system is integrated in early fall.

PCL ops: the new ID cards are in your base mgr's office, just go turn in your old one.

 

[PCL Flt-ops]

Thanks man, I just picked up the new ID.

 

[Flash]

The latest info from the jumpseat group is that UPS, SWA and CAL are closest to being ready to go. There is more than paperwork involved, money is required also. Many airlines are reluctant to spend anything right now until they wait and see how this program starts up.

 

[UpNDownGuy]

Here is what ALPA officially says about the subject:


Welcome to ALPA FastRead for August 15, 2003

Jumpseat Test Officially Approved

The TSA has officially approved a six month "pilot program" that will
re-institute offline jumpseat access for pilots. This test program will
be known as the Cockpit Security Access System, or CASS. The formal
approval of CASS by TSA removes all of the regulatory restrictions that
had been placed on offline jumpseat after the September 11, 2001 tragedy.

Before the program is again up and running there are some other steps
that must be accomplished. For example, a contract with ARINC to run the
proxy server for the CASS must be finalized. This should take no more
than two weeks. Once this is accomplished each airline will be required
to make some in-house adjustments to their computer reservations system
in order to make it compatible with the requirements of the CASS. The
length of time to accomplish these changes will vary from airline to
airline.

Once each airline has met these requirements and made their system CASS
compliant they will then have to "end to end" test their system with
the other airlines participating in the CASS. This should be a relatively
straightforward hardware/software issue. Once these tests are completed
each airline entering the CASS will be required to adopt their
respective Ops Specs to accommodate the requirements of the CASS. This should
only require a written change to the Ops Specs documentation. The final
approval for the system will be through each respective carrier's PSI,
which the TSA has stated will occur provided all of the above
requirements are met.

Once the system is up and running (probably mid-September for the
carriers whose systems are ready) the following procedure will apply to
pilots desiring to utilize an offline jumpseat. The pilot will present him
or herself at the offline carrier's gate, provide the agent with his or
her valid airline ID, a valid US passport and a PIN number issued by
his or her respective airline. The gate agent will enter this information
into the computer and send a verification of identification query to
the pilot's airline through the ARINC proxy server. Once the response is
received, the gate agent will verify that all of the identification
credentials presented by the pilot matches the information returned by the
airline, and the pilot will be allowed access to the cockpit jumpseat.

More information about this program will be provided as it is received,
and pilots should contact their respective MEC Jumpseat Coordinators
for information specific to their individual airlines.





May be available in a workable fashion sometime around November.....

 

[stillaboo]

That procedure sounds like a huge pain in the a$$! No wonder most carriers are taking a 'wait-and-see' attitude. Who designed this system, the govenment? Better take your shoes off too before you present your ID to the CSAs.

-Boo!

 

[hr2eternity]

Hun?

Hey, since 9/11 our pilots have still been able to JS, just not sit in the cockpit. In other words, if there's a seat in the back, we can ride, but the JS must actually be vacant so you can NOT ride in it so to speak. For most companies, they will only take the number of JS'ers as there are actual JS's avail. However, SWA usually will load it up if there's seats in the back. I was under the impression that everyone still had the privilage but with the restriction of not being able to actually ride in the cockpit. Is this not so?

 

[awaitingswa]

They're talking about offliners being able to sit in the cockpit of participating airlines

 

[hr2eternity]

clarification.

I realize that, but some of these guys are talking like they'd lost the privilage altogether, including being able to ride on other airlines. . . . ?

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

The privilege is much harder to take advantage of when most flights leave the gates full these days. One can see that when a plane pulls away from the gate, and the jumpseat is empty, it's a little frustrating. Getting the jumpseat back is a big deal to those of us who value them.

 

[hr2eternity]

gotcha

Understood.