left behind because of gate agent

HJB said:
Spit in her face!
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You joke, but I haz a story about how a former coworker of mine lost his flight bennies on United when one of his buddies was "upset" he was bumped off the last flight home due to a last minute non-rev listing at the gate. And the story pretty much goes the way you told it.
 
Even when you're angry with a gate agent, you can express your displeasure in a professional manner.

And, of course, the second you give the other person the impetus to make YOU the problem, they will run with it.

Like when I get the bitchy email about the website. I can blast them and fall into the whole "See! That guy is an ass!" or remain calm and tell them to have a nice day, all while keeping a mental note of the persons name for whenever I run across it when someone from "The Star Chamber" asks "Hey, I want to hire this guy, what do you know?" :)
 
Yeah I kid.... I once had to leave my wife behind, worst feeling ever! Took the JS, someone had to be home the next morning. Gate agent was amazing, walked my wife where she needed to go, gave her a food and hotel voucher. Wish I could find that agent again to tell her thank you. I'd easily drop a 100$ GC to giver her. You win some you lose some I guess
 
I have been left quite a few times because of gate agents...all on southernjets and all in ATL. The ones I don't have issues with are those that load a half full MD-88 40 prior. The ones I do always load an oversold 757 25 prior for no good reason then go into full freak out mode when it's like 10 min to dept and they have half the airplane to go. Needless to say, some gate agents are good and some aren't.
 
Pilotdude3407 said:
I have been left quite a few times because of gate agents...all on southernjets and all in ATL. The ones I don't have issues with are those that load a half full MD-88 40 prior. The ones I do always load an oversold 757 25 prior for no good reason then go into full freak out mode when it's like 10 min to dept and they have half the airplane to go. Needless to say, some gate agents are good and some aren't.
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Full freak out mode...that brings back good memories of laughing hysterically watching other people run flights as a gate agent. Not laughing hysterically when I'm a non-rev on said flight though. It was fun working with agents who wanted to board a 30-seat Brasilia 30 minutes prior to departure, finish boarding with 27 to go(so 17 minutes to doors closing) then frantically page the "missing" pax as if they're about to miss the flight, then make those same pax feel guilty with, "Everyone is onboard waiting for you" when they show up at what should have been 2-3 minutes into boarding. Annoying at the time, hilarious looking back.
 
Bring candy (quantity over quality). 100% success rate. If they say "no", you get candy. Skittles are awesome.

I agree with derg. If it's an atrocious situation, bring it up to your JS coord. If you are in cass you should be able to list with a CSR (red coat) or one of the customer service gates. I've literally stood behind OAL guys listing for the same DL flight as me. I bought him a coffee after bumping him to try and make it better, then giving him the FDX number to get home, although a little later.
 
The best way to insure a jumpseat is to politely introduce yourself to the flight crew as they board and let them know you are trying to get home. If the pilots don't know you are there, it falls entirely on the whim of the agent. If the pilots know, and care (most will), your chances go up dramatically. I can't stress this enough....Let someone on the crew know you're there. Grumpy agent or not, I won't ever leave a jumpseater at the gate if I have a seat to offer....but I gotta know you're there. Sorry that happened.....
 
CaptBill said:
The best way to insure a jumpseat is to politely introduce yourself to the flight crew as they board and let them know you are trying to get home. If the pilots don't know you are there, it falls entirely on the whim of the agent. If the pilots know, and care (most will), your chances go up dramatically. I can't stress this enough....Let someone on the crew know you're there. Grumpy agent or not, I won't ever leave a jumpseater at the gate if I have a seat to offer....but I gotta know you're there. Sorry that happened.....
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This is important. If the crew sees you they will most likely try to get you on.

I also do not mess around with go home day shenanigans. I don't care how crabby or bitchy they are I will literally stand in front of the counter and look at them until the check me in. Don't get me wrong, I am always polite and pleasant and won't get in their way, but I remain a constant fixture. After I'm checked in I'll go take a seat way out of the way. When group 4 or 5 gets called i'm right back up there. Within 20 feet and visible. I've had an agent forget about me before and I've had to remind her I was a JSer.
 
And sometimes you, as operating crew, must lay topside and inquire about non-revs.

"Oh...weight restricted...uh...25 and 0!"
 
That's strange this happens so often in ATL with Delta. I also had the same experience, same place a couple years ago. It was pretty frustrating watching the half empty plane push back while the smug agent told me SkyWest doesn't have a jumpseat agreement with Delta. He was such a rude, condescending jerk I really didn't know what to say... I just walked before I became the bad guy.

It all worked out though... I walked over to AirTran CS, they listed me for a flight 40 mins later and were VERY nice to me. Then after boarding, the gate agent came in the aircraft, called me on the PA, and put me in business class!
 
I've had crews delay a flight to get me on and I've done the same for others. Always make the walk to see if there are JS's getting left behind....
 
Thankfully I've not run into "those types" at ATL...ran into one in Rapid City, but the awesome SLC A320 Capt politely told her that "My airplane doesn't move unless I have those two JS'er's on the plane".

One time recently I was concerned about getting out of ATL to SEA, thankfully one of @Derg 's Captain friends was flying the flight and he made sure I made it on (Payload optimised too!)...one of the coolest things I've had happen on my commute.
 
All commuters should make the walk. Most of the guys I fly with are commuters and either one of us make the walk every leg. Many gate agents tell you there are not jumpseaters because they are told to cut off everything 10 min prior. I sympathize with their stress but we are all supposed to work together.
 
I always ask the agent if we have any jumpseaters and make them pull up the list. That way we are aware of Any and they know we know.
 
SurferLucas said:
Thankfully I've not run into "those types" at ATL...ran into one in Rapid City, but the awesome SLC A320 Capt politely told her that "My airplane doesn't move unless I have those two JS'er's on the plane".

One time recently I was concerned about getting out of ATL to SEA, thankfully one of @Derg 's Captain friends was flying the flight and he made sure I made it on (Payload optimised too!)...one of the coolest things I've had happen on my commute.
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I forget- is the jump included in the BOW at Southernjets?
 
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