Originally Posted by VnavPath

There's a reason virtually all of our peer airlines (DL, AA, FDX, UPS, etc) all use a reservation system for the Jumpseat now. It's just better, period. AA went to it fairly recently and even the senior guys there say it's better then what they had before (seniority system), I commute on them often and thats the overwhelming sentiment. A lot less confusion and uncertainty at the gate and once its yours its yours, no risk of getting bumped at all. In fact their (AA) commuter policy states that if you are number 1 for the JS then all you need is that one flight. That's because it's confirmed seat, pretty nice huh? Anyway, perhaps a hybrid system could work here, such as seniority gets you the Jumpseat until 24hrs prior then at that point if its still open it becomes first come first serve reservation. That would allow senior guys to exercise seniority and everyone else to have some transparency and predictably in their commuting lives.