Originally Posted by purple101

The reason United has such specific language in their jumpseat policy is beacause they had issues about 12 to 13 years ago. I believe it was Burlington that was kicking back half the price of a ticket if the pilot would jumpseat to where Burlington needed them instead of riding on a paid ticket. United found out and said we are in the business of moving passengers for profit. Why are we helping your bottom line at our expense? Around that time if you were jumping on United you could expect to get questions as to the reason for your jumpseat. If you said "I'm based in MIA but my company needs me in ANC to fly a trip" you would have been in for a rude awakening.

The reason FedEx was black-listed from American was not just because the pilot was trying to jump on the exact same flight as he had a paid ticket. It was because he (and FedEx unknowingly) was trying to get for free something that should have been paid for. American still would have taken issue if it had been another flight on the same day or even a different day. American's issue was that it was FedEx that was requiring the pilot to show up in XYZ and American is in the business of making a profit taking people to XYZ.

You should also keep in mind that passenger carrier pilots do not have travel banks. It does not compute in their mind that the company gave you X number of dollars to get from A to B but you have chosen to catch a free ride. In their mind either you or the company is profiting at their expense.

Think about it this way. If you owned the airline and a guy walked up and said."I am traveling as a requirement for my job and I need to get to XYZ. I was going to pay you to take me there tomorrow but today you are charging to much so I want to go for free.

I am not telling you to do or not to do something. As I said be careful how you verbilize your actions. People's perception of what you are doing is their reality. Even if their perception is inaccurate