-FlyAuburn-
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2007
- Posts
- 225
Once again I pull my boarding pass out of the self service kiosk and quickly start searching for it. And once again I find myself staring at the dreaded SSSS. It's like when you were a kid and you opened a present on your birthday and see a dinosaur sweater your grandma knitted for you versus that cool toy you had really wanted.
Most of the airline ticket agents are very good about getting it removed from the boarding pass of us NJ pilots, but only if you ask politely and only if they are in a good mood. If they are having a crappy day or just happen to be one of the few that won't do it (even though their colleague did it a couple of weeks back for the same airline) then you are probably screwed. Last tour I was told by a US Scareways ticket agent, "We don't do that anymore, the rules have changed." Yeah right lady, translation: You don't feel like it. At least the gentleman that did the cavity search etc. was a nice guy in a good mood.
Today I had better lucked with Continental. I guess they weren't aware of the "new" rules. You never can tell just based on the look of the ticket agent. This particular lady looked quite militant and pissed off yet in about 1 minute flat she handed me a new boarding pass with no SSSS without any hassle.
Somebody needs to do some politicking somewhere and get us fractional pilots on the "list". I know we are ticketed passengers but I disagree with the previous posts about our uniform and crew ID meaning nothing. It means a lot. It means we have passed stringent background checks and fingerprinting, and are by and large every bit as "security worthy" as any "real" airline crew.
I think the issue is that the general public and the government are slow to realize the changes that have taken place in GA and the size and scale of companies like NJ. We are an airline, and a very large one at that. We have enough to deal with leaving our families and being away for a week at a time. The last thing any of us should have to deal with is having to stand in a glass box with an airline pilot uniform on while the rest of the world walks buy wondering what the hell a pilot is having to "spreadem" for.
Anyway, I know there have been other posts on this subject but that is just my two cents.
Most of the airline ticket agents are very good about getting it removed from the boarding pass of us NJ pilots, but only if you ask politely and only if they are in a good mood. If they are having a crappy day or just happen to be one of the few that won't do it (even though their colleague did it a couple of weeks back for the same airline) then you are probably screwed. Last tour I was told by a US Scareways ticket agent, "We don't do that anymore, the rules have changed." Yeah right lady, translation: You don't feel like it. At least the gentleman that did the cavity search etc. was a nice guy in a good mood.
Today I had better lucked with Continental. I guess they weren't aware of the "new" rules. You never can tell just based on the look of the ticket agent. This particular lady looked quite militant and pissed off yet in about 1 minute flat she handed me a new boarding pass with no SSSS without any hassle.
Somebody needs to do some politicking somewhere and get us fractional pilots on the "list". I know we are ticketed passengers but I disagree with the previous posts about our uniform and crew ID meaning nothing. It means a lot. It means we have passed stringent background checks and fingerprinting, and are by and large every bit as "security worthy" as any "real" airline crew.
I think the issue is that the general public and the government are slow to realize the changes that have taken place in GA and the size and scale of companies like NJ. We are an airline, and a very large one at that. We have enough to deal with leaving our families and being away for a week at a time. The last thing any of us should have to deal with is having to stand in a glass box with an airline pilot uniform on while the rest of the world walks buy wondering what the hell a pilot is having to "spreadem" for.
Anyway, I know there have been other posts on this subject but that is just my two cents.
