Originally Posted by
450knotOffice
Hmm. If you are talking about Jumpseat priority, then yes, AA pilots have priority over AE pilots on their aircraft, and AE has priority on AE aircraft.
As for every other classification, it all boils down to pass classification - not which division one works for.
If a crewmember or dispatcher is traveling on company business, that person travels on an A pass and has a higher (much higher) classification than a standard D2 or D1 pass traveler.
Within the D2 (or D1 or D3 for that matter) classification, all AA and AE employees are considered equal and are grouped in the order that they check in for the flight.
A perfect example of this is a commute I did a few months ago to ORD. I'm Eagle and had priority over an AA pilot on an AA flight. Here's how it worked:
There was only one seat left in the cabin and the one jump seat on the flight deck (737). I signed in a few SECONDS before the AA pilot and was listed first on the priority list. We both used D2 priority classification so we were both equal there. That's all it takes for the priority list.
Since I was first on the list, I had priority in the cabin. The AA pilot got the jumpseat. He was pretty senior BTW.
Now, if there was no seat in the cabin, the AA pilot would have still gotten the jumpseat and I would have been bumped even though I was higher on the priority list.
Seniority works on jumpseats only.
The gate agent actually tried to screw me and say he had priority in the cabin but I didn't let her get away with that. I mentioned to her that his priority was for the jumpseat only. Then she said "Oh yeah, that's right." But that was just some bullsh*t. Some gate agents are devious.
Another situation: 2 AA pilots and an Eagle pilot on the priority list. One seat available in the cabin, and the jumpseat. If Eagle pilot is higher on the priority list (signs in first or higher classification like D1), the junior AA pilot gets bumped, the senior AA pilot gets the jumpseat, and the Eagle pilot gets the seat in the cabin. If eagle pilot signs in last, Eagle pilot gets bumped.
There can be ten AA pilots listed but if any Eagle pilot is higher on the priority list, they get any available cabin seat. The Eagle pilot will never get the jumpseat in that situation though.
Works the same on Eagle flights too. AA pilots can bump Eagle pilots out of the cabin if they are higher on the priority list, but not out of the jumpseat.