Jumpseat Etiquette

[L-16B]

Tell the Captain when something like that happens. I had an NWA jumpseater tell me that my FA did that when I was a CA at Pinnacle. After the flight, I took the FA aside and read her the riot act about how she is to treat guests of the Captain, because that is exactly what a jumpseater is. I'm not having my guest interrogated by an FA before he can come talk to me. Absolute BS.

I thought about that, but I don't want to overstep on a free ride. I'm sure somewhere in the flight attendants manual, or during indoc they told them that they should check the credentials before they see the captain. It's stupid though, if I were a little kid and wanted to see the cockpit I could walk right bye.

 

[skydog]

Why are you cuing me? Bumping revenue to get on a jumpseater is ridiculous. It is certainly the Captain's airplane, and he has every bit of authority to deny whoever he wants, but that doesn't mean you can change the priority boarding system that is in the company manual. Revenue always comes before jumpseaters.

I crave your pardon sir. As you noted on a previous thread, you and I seem to disagree about everything. Not the case this time. My apologies.

 

[Fins Up]

What annoys the most - Middle age guy flight attendants that check through all of your paperwork before you get to see the guys up front and ask. Just last week I was coming onto the plane with everything in hand and I asked if I could say hello to the Captain. He replied , " Not without showing me all of your credentials first", and said it quite sternly. I think he was offended that I didn't automatically hand him my stuff even though it was out in hand. He then proceeded to look at my crew id, passport, and medical and checked me out to make sure my pictures matched. I've had my stuff checked out by the captain once in the last 7 to 8 months, but the middle age male flight attendant type has checked my stuff at least 7 or 8 times. lame.

I don't think any FA's have the duty to interrogate a jumpseater in that manner and inspect ATP cert/medical/passport. I'll show him/her my crew ID since I'm wearing it anyway but the rest is for the Captain to view. I'd be inclined to tell the FA just that.

 

[diesel9driver]

To rephrase, At DAL and CAL you not considered a jumpseater if you have a seat assignment and you ride in the back. No need to check in with the captain and free to booze it up.

You're still wrong, if you are catching a ride on another carrier (not within your airline's network) you are considered jumpseating. IE you work for UAL and walk up to the CAL counter to catch a ride. Even if they give you a seat in the back you are still considered a jumpseater since you don't have travel privileges on that carrier. You aren't physically occupying the cockpit jumpseat but you are still a jumpseater. You are NOT free to booze it up as you are an ACM. You should also still check in with the Captain and make sure you ask permission to catch a ride with them.

 

[Polar742]

Things I can't believe:
1) This needed to be a thread
2) It's on the 2nd page.
3) You wouldn't thank the guys upfront for the free ride, if for no other reason than common courtesy.

 

[MQAAord]

As a F/A, when I had a pilot come on jumpseating, I'd say "Hi, you jumpseating today?" If s/he replied "yes", I'd say "Cool, there ya go" and step out of the way so s/he could get into the cockpit.

At Eagle when we used to check ALL pax boarding passes I'd have to see the J/Sers 1W boarding pass, but we would check *ALL* pax boarding passes. This was primarily done in ORD when 4 planes would board at the same time from the same gate. This practice was not still done by the time I left there in 2001. Otherwise I'd just send them merrily on their way up front and let the pilots do the "credential inspection"

It was humorous on the ATR to have a jumpseater who'd never been on an ATR before. The ATR boards from the back, so the jumpseater would have to go all the way up the aisle, and go through the bulkhead door. That bulkhead door does not open directly to the cockpit, but to the FWD cargo bin. FWD cargo is two separate cargo spaces separated by a narrow path with folding smoke doors that you have to open to actually get to the cockpit. It was so funny to see the looks on the jumpseaters faces when they'd open that bulkhead door, and see bags, boxes and no cockpit! They'd turn, look back at me with a perplexed look on their face, and I'd motion for them to keep going..... Very amusing


And yes, when I was at AA if there was a F/C seat available, I made sure the jumpseater sat there. There wasn't always one available, but I would not let a jumpseater sit in coach if there was a F/C seat open.

 

[Alchemy]

• If you are pass riding (IE a Coex guy riding on CAL who filled out a J/S form but ended up with a seat in the back) then you don't have to worry about getting a signature from the CA or introducing yourself unless you just want to say hi and thank them for the flight. Know the difference between pass riding and jumpseating.

I don't know if you work for CAL, but the reason the COEX guys are still checking in is because the XJT ALPA jumpseat comittee has implicitly instructed xjt pilots to contiue to check in with the pilots before taking a seat when classified as a "jumpseat rider".

Being listed as SK1/SJ1 whatever is still jumpseating in my book, even if the gate agent can assign you a seat. I would think that the CAL pilots would like to maintain control over who gets a jumpseat anyway.

 

[diesel9driver]

Thanks for the info, no I don't work for CAL but interesting to know how things work over there. The airlines I've worked for you didn't need to sign up for the J/S if you were listed as a non rev unless the cabin was full and you had to actually ride in the cockpit. This is all assuming of course you are riding on your own airline and not another carrier.

 

[BobDDuck]

Thanks for the info, no I don't work for CAL but interesting to know how things work over there. The airlines I've worked for you didn't need to sign up for the J/S if you were listed as a non rev unless the cabin was full and you had to actually ride in the cockpit. This is all assuming of course you are riding on your own airline and not another carrier.

I'm guessing, from your user name, that you work for a mainline carrier. Something that may have changed from when you were in the regional world (if you ever were) is that many of the contract feed carriers have to pay to non rev on their parent airline. Fortunately for me, in the US Airways system, non rev travel (for the actually employee anyways) is free. However in other systems, even if you fly an airplane with the same name as the parent company on it, you still have to pay per leg. To get around this, some pilots simply list for the jumpseat and that way don't have to pay. Hence some of the confusion about non reving vs. jumpseating.

 

[Alchemy]

Thanks for the info, no I don't work for CAL but interesting to know how things work over there. The airlines I've worked for you didn't need to sign up for the J/S if you were listed as a non rev unless the cabin was full and you had to actually ride in the cockpit. This is all assuming of course you are riding on your own airline and not another carrier.

Yeah, I guess with CAL you have to differentiate between "jumpseat riders" and "pass riders". Almost everyone who can lists themselves as a "jumpseat rider" when commuting (meaning they're supposed to check w/ the cockpit) because they get charged $12.50 each way for a normal "personal pass" listing. Since CAL automates the jumpseat process for cal/xjt/chq/cjc pilots, the gate agents treat the seat assignment just like a personal pass, but with lower priority, so it gets confusing for the uninitiated. Even some of the CAL pilots seemed a little confused by it when they first switched to this system.

 

[teetee]

If a corporate pilot is a paid passenger on the airplane, do the CA still prefer that pilot to introduce themselves? My FIL flies corporate and many times if his passengers are going to be staying a location for a while, instead of staying as well, he will have the company purchase him a ticket home. Once when talking with him he said that it was considered very rude when getting on a plane to not let the CA know that you flew as well. Is that still the case or is that more old school stuff? I know this is mainly talking about airline pilots that are taking a free flight, but I was just wondering what the protocol was for other pilots.

One other questions. Has Jetblue changed their policy on cockpit jumpseaters? When my husband worked there, only Jetblue FA or pilots were allowed to jumpseat in the cockpit. Took many free trips on Jetblue and loved it! Only had 1 bad experience and that was when I was a paying customer.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I always liked it when they stopped by just so I knew there was an extra pilot in the back if I needed them, but there's not really any need for a paying passenger to stop by the cockpit. The Netjets guys usually don't.

JetBlue allows any CASS pilot to sit on the jumpseat.

 

[germb747]

Yea, if I'm a regular paying customer, I make the rules--so no, I don't disturb the cockpit crew--surely they have better things to do than have their ear talked off by a freight dog who isn't required to check in with them (unless it happens to be a really cool or new jet/cockpit that I've never seen before or happen to know someone on the crew ). Jumpseating, however, you gotta play the game.

 

[teetee]

Interesting, thanks. Since the FIL has flown long enough and in enough airplanes that he really doesn't care what another cockpit looks like, he probably does it cause of the old school traditions. I don't think he ever jumpseats cause he flies solely for a single family.

 

[germb747]

Interesting, thanks. Since the FIL has flown long enough and in enough airplanes that he really doesn't care what another cockpit looks like, he probably does it cause of the old school traditions. I don't think he ever jumpseats cause he flies solely for a single family.

Yea, unfortunately he isn't eligible to jumpseat since he flies Part 91.

 

[teetee]

One of these days I will understand what each Part means and why. I always thought charter and corporate were the same until my FIL corrected me :crazy:

 

[Qgar]

I always liked it when they stopped by just so I knew there was an extra pilot in the back if I needed them, but there's not really any need for a paying passenger to stop by the cockpit. The Netjets guys usually don't.

JetBlue allows any CASS pilot to sit on the jumpseat.

Most of the time they don't stick their head in the cockpit before the flight, but they'll usually thank the guys up front on their way out. They are probably my favorites----just sit there and mind their own business--and NEVER question any of our rules--unlike some other pilots.:whatever:

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Most of the time they don't stick their head in the cockpit before the flight, but they'll usually thank the guys up front on their way out. They are probably my favorites----just sit there and mind their own business--and NEVER question any of our rules--unlike some other pilots.:whatever:

Rules? What rules? anic:It's fun to run amok in the airplane.


:laff:

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Most of the time they don't stick their head in the cockpit before the flight, but they'll usually thank the guys up front on their way out. They are probably my favorites----just sit there and mind their own business--and NEVER question any of our rules--unlike some other pilots.:whatever:

What do other pilots question?

 

[surreal1221]

At AirTran the gate agent will issue you a boarding pass with a seat number, but you're still considered a jumpseater unless you're riding on a pass. I've had a few CAs blow their tops when an ASA pilot went straight to the back and sat down without stopping by the flight deck. Don't know why, but it's always the ASA guys. They must need a little more jumpseat etiquette training over there for the newhires.

Two days with the Professional Standards gurus, they should know about checking in with the Captain and asking for a ride.

Have to remember Todd, that most of my peers are pretty young, not so mature individuals, and who don't necessarily respect the camaraderie and tradition that exists in this profession.

I hope any Captain that sees any of my peers not following proper JS etiquette gets a proper talking to as they're on their way off your ship.