You just made that definition up. And you don't get my point. Positive space is what people who purchase tickets get. You get a "confirmed seat." No, it is not "guaranteed" - I'd love to see an airline ticket or contract of carriage that says the seat is guaranteed. It never is -- how could it be? Your flight might get cancelled. The airline might have oversold the flight -- a legal right they have. At that point, whether you get on will depend upon your priority - how much you paid, when you checked in, whatever. The point of this discussion is that when you are flying to/from training, or on a deadhead, you are flown positive space -- you have a seat. It's not standby. Now if you get bumped in an oversold situation, that will depend on if you're A1 or A3, of course -- if you're A3, you're more likely to get bumped, because you're a lower priority status amongst all of the positive spacers (paying pax).

I can't speak to that deal with your buddy, and I'm not sure how that's relevant to a discussion about Envoy's policies regarding positive space tickets.

[not an authoritative source, but to show at least one website agrees with me] Positive Space -- Definition: Travel industry term for a confirmed seat booking. Negative Space: Travel industry term for an unconfirmed (standby) seat booking. Opposite of positive space.