Originally Posted by
C11DCA
As a DC based pilot, whose first or last leg is normally between DCA and IAH, I can only recall maybe 3 or 4 times we had the jump seat occupied since the merger. A small sampling I know but generally I haven't seen jumpseaters between those two airports. How Dulles is I have no idea, but chances are there are more pilots trying that city pair then going to DCA and with fewer flights (though some tend to be 767's)
A few points to ponder as well:
*The Airbus has 2 jumpseats.
*A UAL pilot can not be denied the jumpseat due to a weight restriction on a UAL mainline flight. Many agents/operations are not aware of this so it would be handy to have a screenshot of the FOM page. I had to use it (including showing the FOM reference) last year going DCA-DEN.
* Metro (the subway in DC) is going thru a year long safe track modernization process. Expect a lot of delays dependent on which line they are working on that week.
DC
Thanks much... keep the insight coming!
I just flew to/from and both flights there were seats available... and the JS was unoccupied (I know small sampling). I talked to a couple pilots pass riding and they said a lot of regional pilots are doing the commute... but it seems most mainline pilots are based in IAH so no need to fight for the JS. Things have improved since most of the flights between IAH and IAD are on mainline metal... used to be just RJs and a 767 every so often. If I did commute it would be only for a short period (less than a year)... have a year and a few months left on my seat lock.