Originally Posted by
PSA help
Good advice, but... if you are a new hire, and you want to observe, tell the captain the situation. If there is no one on the jumpseat, he/she will likely tell you to sit up front anyways. If there is another pilot on the jump seat, that person would prefer to be in the back anyways, so you can likely switch without getting the gate agent involved.
As a rule, if you have a positive space ticket, DO NOT take the jump seat. It can bump a commuting pilot off of it. But, if it is empty anyways, talk to the captain.
Personally, I would welcome any new hire pilot that wants to learn and get better. Most all captains would.
Pretty much this.
To that I would add that I would take a JS if I were a DH if it gets a non-rev on board as well. I know one of my parents has been the beneficiary of that kind of generosity.
But to emphasize again, I'd only do that if there wasn't another jumpseater who had no other way of getting on the airplane.