Dispatcher Jumpseating Diaries

TomatoFlames

TomatoFlames

Well-Known Member
Surprised this isn't discussed more here, or maybe not in recent history as my search indicated.

Let's talk jumpseating. Do you take advantage of your privileges? What are your experiences? What airlines are good/bad/easy/hard for it?

I've had to deal with a bit of gate agents not knowing what a dispatcher is or why we are in CASS to begin with. Then, if they learn that we are allowed, they misunderstand our priority against other standbys. This has even happened at my own airline.
 
Well, in addition to the nightmare I experienced with American, I had the opposite experience with United. It couldn't have been easier! I went through the crew security checkpoint @ ORD. Walked up to the gate agent and without hesitation, she looked me up in CASS. Within less than a minute she had my info and 45 minutes later I was called up and handed a boarding pass. Had a comfy ride in the cabin without an inkling of hassle. It was a great experience!
 
I know I posted this in another thread but I will post it again....

When I worked the gates, we were always trained that dispatchers were allowed to sit in the flight deck, if they (the airline) had a reciprocal agreement. Before CASS, I know at Delta and SkyWest had JS forms that said "Dispatchers". I know it had changed with CASS where we printed out boarding cards that said "JUMPSEAT" on them.

When I was at Allegiant for reservations/call center - Jumpseating was talked about and how to handle it, so all of my agents knew how to list them. I thought it was part of basic training when you work the gates or ticketc ounter.
 
It was 11am on morning in ATL. My company had my booked on a 230pm flight to NYC on Delta. I was a fresh dispatcher and had never jumpsat before...completely clueless. I was with other crewmembers jumpseating to various cities. I complained I had to wait 3 hours, and they said "Why don't you just jumpseat on an earlier one? Are you stupid?" Yes.Yes I was stupid.

I looked to the board and saw a Delta flight to LGA was boarding. I ran, walked up to the gate and kindly asked a gate agent about jumpseating. Within a minute she had me looked up, approved and handed me a boarding pass for "1P". I asked what seat that was, and she said "That's the cockpit, dear." I felt like DiCaprio in Catch ME If You Can. But Delta was great.

US Airways has given me the "I don't think you can do that" bull for a bit. Even the Captain wasn't sure until he called system ops.

I understand that for American and JetBlue, you need to list in advance online, right?

What airlines accept walk-ups?
 
I understand that for American and JetBlue said:
My understanding with American is that you CAN list but it's not necessary. I did just so I'd already be in their system and have a record locator number, but I'd be curious to know if we have to?
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TomatoFlames said:
I understand that for American and JetBlue, you need to list in advance online, right?

What airlines accept walk-ups?
Click to expand...

From my year of commuting cross country I learned these airlines want you to list ahead of time:
American - required, you will get chewed out if you ask at the gate also the listing number is not open very much so I wouldn't rely on them in a pinch.
Frontier - not required but strongly suggested, some gate agents will refuse you
Sun Country - at outstations many agents won't know how to list you without a record in the system
FedEx - If you can't make it be sure to cancel your listing with 24 hour notice or you will be blacklisted!

Others with quirks:
Allegiant - be careful! 9 times out of 10 only one gate agent works a flight and sometimes they don't show up with enough time to assist you. Also, you MUST get a form from the agent to be signed by the captain whether you are in the FD or cabin, don't let them tell you otherwise.
Horizon - They like you to list at the customer service counter in SEA
United - easy enough but you still need the forms to be signed by the captain

You get a few bad apples from gate agents to pilots, but just about everyone is cordial and very welcoming to DX jumpseaters. Some people will double check the FOM to make sure you can ride, others don't care and would seemingly let anyone on. Best advice I can give you if you get someone who is convinced you can't sit up front is to keep repeating "I'm in CASS." Works wonders, particularly on agents.

I never tried Jetblue, Spirit, Virgin or cargo carriers so no experience with them.

My favorite carriers to jumpseat with are Frontier, Alaska and Delta. Also, Allegiant crews always great but the (lack of) agent situation was painful sometimes.
 
belgiumania said:
From my year of commuting cross country I learned these airlines want you to list ahead of time:
American - required, you will get chewed out if you ask at the gate also the listing number is not open very much so I wouldn't rely on them in a pinch.
Frontier - not required but strongly suggested, some gate agents will refuse you
Sun Country - at outstations many agents won't know how to list you without a record in the system
FedEx - If you can't make it be sure to cancel your listing with 24 hour notice or you will be blacklisted!

Others with quirks:
Allegiant - be careful! 9 times out of 10 only one gate agent works a flight and sometimes they don't show up with enough time to assist you. Also, you MUST get a form from the agent to be signed by the captain whether you are in the FD or cabin, don't let them tell you otherwise.
Horizon - They like you to list at the customer service counter in SEA
United - easy enough but you still need the forms to be signed by the captain

You get a few bad apples from gate agents to pilots, but just about everyone is cordial and very welcoming to DX jumpseaters. Some people will double check the FOM to make sure you can ride, others don't care and would seemingly let anyone on. Best advice I can give you if you get someone who is convinced you can't sit up front is to keep repeating "I'm in CASS." Works wonders, particularly on agents.

I never tried Jetblue, Spirit, Virgin or cargo carriers so no experience with them.

My favorite carriers to jumpseat with are Frontier, Alaska and Delta. Also, Allegiant crews always great but the (lack of) agent situation was painful sometimes.
Click to expand...

Awesome info...thanks for sharing! Also, UPS will blacklist you if you are a no-show.
 
belgiumania said:
Others with quirks:
Allegiant - be careful! 9 times out of 10 only one gate agent works a flight and sometimes they don't show up with enough time to assist you. Also, you MUST get a form from the agent to be signed by the captain whether you are in the FD or cabin, don't let them tell you otherwise.

My favorite carriers to jumpseat with are Frontier, Alaska and Delta. Also, Allegiant crews always great but the (lack of) agent situation was painful sometimes.
Click to expand...

Having worked for Allegiant, I can tell you this is true unless you are in LAS and BLI...I know outstations like SCK and SGF are great. All of the stations are contract to companies like ATS, World Wide and Swissport. When I worked in the call center, they could not list you because of how the system is setup. If you are going to JS on Allegiant, I would suggest getting their 2 hours before departure to ensure you can get on the plane and to get the slip.

Here is a question:

What is the likelihood you can sit in the cockpit of OAL with the reciprocal agreement?
 
Todd Weber said:
What is the likelihood you can sit in the cockpit of OAL with the reciprocal agreement?
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My understanding, as I'll have to check the jumpseat website, is that it varies airline to airline. Also, I think that they prefer to put you in the cabin if there are open seats before the cockpit per our good ol friends at TSA. Of course, it's the PIC's ultimate call whether to allow you on or not.
 
Oh, silly TSA......

I heard Fox or CNN a week back that part of the budgets cuts, TSA may end up eliminated or at least the security screeners along with a few other position with most of the aviation pieces going back to the FAA..no joke! I think there were two airports that had private security still - SFO and AUS that saved the government a combined 1 million a year but of course I don't believe what the media says anymore.

Don't quote me on that tho...
 
Todd Weber said:
Oh, silly TSA......

I heard Fox or CNN a week back that part of the budgets cuts, TSA may end up eliminated or at least the security screeners along with a few other position with most of the aviation pieces going back to the FAA..no joke! I think there were two airports that had private security still - SFO and AUS that saved the government a combined 1 million a year but of course I don't believe what the media says anymore.

Don't quote me on that tho...
Click to expand...
Looks like it's already happening... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/us/airports-with-new-law-are-freer-to-split-from-tsa.html?_r=0
 
I always knew of that law, I know the airport here in LAS has been wanting to get rid of TSA and provided figures that would save the government at least $600-$700k a year....If you have never been to LAS, we have checkpoints at A/B concourse, C concourse, D concourse and the new terminal 3...anytime I go thru the D checkpoints, there are at leas 20 people just standing around and yes I know it may sound like a joke but it is true. Before 9-11 with private security, I remember maybe only 5 just standing around.

I miss the days after 9-11 when the national guard was present...nobody dared to mouth off or do something funny, I am in big favor to have those folks back!
 
I have jumpsat with United, Spirit and Southwest with absolutely zero problems. Most times telling the flight crews where I work is enough to open up conversation with them, ranging from "who?" to "get outta town!" Only recent issue I had was a Spirit crew who had the "raised eyebrow" look when I presented them with the JS form, but he quickly confirmed with ops that it was kosher and the rest was a breeze. Jumped with United out of ORD and Spirit out of LAS last week and it was effortless both ways.
 
I quasi commute and have run not a couple of minor issues, most easily resolved. Sometime WN refuses to accept I'm in CASS. I have a feeling it's an input error since it tends to be sporadic. I've had a DL captain getting a company check ride, and both he and the check airman had never heard of OAL dispatchers being able to jumpseat. A quick phone call to their ops and all, was good. Since I'm not in "uniform" I get asked if I'm a flight attendant, even though I work for an all-cargo carrier. That being said, I've never had any huge insurmountable issues with any carrier (other than lack of space). I've taken DL and UA intl and it's been really easy. It is kind of surprising how often I get the "I had no clue dispatchers could jumpseat" comment.
 
I used to jumpseat on Southwest quite freqently. Generally they are no problem at all (especially since the advent of CASS) but every once in a while a crew would be wary about it, to the point that I had one guy look it up in his book where it said we are authorized, and I memorized the chapter and page number it was on in their FOM. Only had to use it once or twice but it was handy to know. When I jumpseat now it's usually just on my own airline but it's always handy to have the ability to go OAL J/S as a backup.
 
The nice thing about Frontier is they will take as many jumpseaters as they have open seats in the back.

Southwest and FedEx have always been good to me. I even have done a last minute walk up at Southwest.

Ive only jumpseated on American Eagle but didn't have any problems.

Everytime I have done Delta I have ended up in First/Business class inlcuding 2 flights from Europe.

Cape Air is good if you don't mind the right seat in a Cessna 402. :D

During the holidays I always take along some Hershey kisses and other assorted goodies to give to the gate agents/FA and crew members. I have even bought coffee for the agents if it seems they are having a bad day. Politeness will go along way and may even get you brownie points if you are a regular commuter
 
F9DXER said:
The nice thing about Frontier is they will take as many jumpseaters as they have open seats in the back.

Southwest and FedEx have always been good to me. I even have done a last minute walk up at Southwest.

Ive only jumpseated on American Eagle but didn't have any problems.

Everytime I have done Delta I have ended up in First/Business class inlcuding 2 flights from Europe.

Cape Air is good if you don't mind the right seat in a Cessna 402. :D

During the holidays I always take along some Hershey kisses and other assorted goodies to give to the gate agents/FA and crew members. I have even bought coffee for the agents if it seems they are having a bad day. Politeness will go along way and may even get you brownie points if you are a regular commuter
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Yeah, I bought holiday treats for the crew on American and I swear, I was their new best friend for the next few hours!
 
I primarily jumpseat DL. Never ever have I had a nasty crew all the way from the back to the head end. For a while I would take US when I was commuting back to PHL. Only once ever had an issue. Was minor, but got on the flightdeck trying to leave ATL on a US E190 and the Capt did not think OAL dispatchers were in CASS and then when the gate agent I know through my wife (former US Gate Agent at PHL) told him. "I verified he's in CASS" Then he switched to "Well, do we have a reciprocal agreement with us?". He wound up calling his Chief Pilot which confirmed I was good to go mostly cause he couldn't find the jumpseat agreements in the FOM quickly enough. He must have apologized 3 times enroute up to Philly. "I didn't mean to be a pain, I just want to make sure I remain legal with my jumpseat. I don't want to wind up on Wolf Blitzer at 7pm". But I've jumped DL, and US somewhat regularly for a year and half. Just took FL also up to PHL and no issues with them. I've also (knock on wood) never had an issue with an agent.

Wasn't me, but another similar issue was in October I was going Space P up to ORD on a sUA flight and by chance a co-worker was jumpseating home on the same flight. When he got up to the flightdeck the Capt (again) didn't think OAL Dispatchers could jumpseat. Even the FO said, Yea I've seen them. But he said "Let me ask my dispatcher". My buddy is thinking "You do that, that's the perfect person to call" haha. Needless to say he rode 2nd jumpseat with another OAL pilot.

Former co-worker told me a story about AA's stupid policy that they only allow as many jumpseaters as there are physical flightdeck jumpseats. So even though there was a Maddog leaving AUS with 70+ open seats and the Capt was ok taking this dispatcher even though there was already a "jumpseater" sitting in the back. The Gate agent threatened to report the PIC if he allowed another jumpseater on. Dispatcher didn't get on needless to say. That's the reason I'm afraid to try to jump on AA.

manniax said:
I used to jumpseat on Southwest quite freqently. Generally they are no problem at all (especially since the advent of CASS) but every once in a while a crew would be wary about it, to the point that I had one guy look it up in his book where it said we are authorized, and I memorized the chapter and page number it was on in their FOM. Only had to use it once or twice but it was handy to know. When I jumpseat now it's usually just on my own airline but it's always handy to have the ability to go OAL J/S as a backup.
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I've written down chapter/page numbers of 4 different airlines FOMs for jumpseat hierarchy. Jus' never know when ya gonna need em'.
 
PHL_Approach said:
That's the reason I'm afraid to try to jump on AA.
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I had no issue on them or American Connection/American Eagle. Just hated doing that pre-list thing (especially if sh*t was going to hell in a hand basket with one airline and you were rushing to the AA gates to salvage your commute). Jumped on the 2nd seat of a AA 757 ORD-MIA once. Capt was really cool but didn't like the fact that AA allows you to reserve the jumpseat in advance. Not sure if he knew/understand that you have to list for it to be allowed access. That could be simply due to the fact that AA employees aren't required to list in advance by phone and can just show up, maybe? Guys were great though and there was even an FAA inspector doing an observation flight too.

Being "hung" on the second jumpseat of a 757 kinda stinks since you really can't see anything on the ground unless you really wrench your neck but it was great overall.

Delta has always been the easiest in my opinion. Only sucked when trying to double commute thru MEM. That seems to be where the most Delta employee commuting occurs anymore.

I once had an ExpressJet (ASA) captain ask me if he could jumpseat on our aircraft. I looked at him and said "Sure! If you want to fly into Afghanistan that is." He was cool with it.
 
AA doesnt have a jumpseat list like other carriers. When an AA or AE employee lists for the flight as a non rev, his status as a jumpseater is listed in the non rev record. As offline jumpseater, you will get either a D6U or D6L standby priority. D6U is unlimited jumpseats, which most regionals are now afforded, and D6L is limited jumpseats, meaning they are restricted to the number of jumpseats installed on the aircraft. Today, mainly cargo carriers are limited. AA wants jumpseaters to list online on the ID90 site they have. Most gate agents in ORD wont list you at the gate. At other stations, you might have a better chance.

AA employees get first priority on mainline the AE followed by unlimited and limited jumpseaters in first come first served priority. On AE, AE employees get priority followed by AA then offline. AA ticket and gate agents typically dont list jumpseaters so that is why many dont know who can jumpseat.

Ive found Skywest and ex-Mesaba Pinnacle pilots to be the least well informed pilots on whether dispatchers can jumpseat followed by Mesa. Regional pilots in general I think dont read their manuals as much as mainline guys. I rarely have trouble jumpseating on any mainline or cargo carriers.
 
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