Originally Posted by
khergan
So it's worse than what I said. Congrats for making my point for me.
The point was that you can be bumped at the last minute by a guy who's senior, even if you've put in for that JS a week prior to let everyone know your intent. That's a problem that exists only at UAL that you wouldn't have at AA/DAL. It makes commuting more stressful, especially in a city where there's a cadre of senior guys who can and will show up at the last minute to bump you. Thankfully, the majority of senior dudes would list ahead of time when I was still commuting, so I knew what flights I was likely to make and not, but the *******s who pull up to the gate at the last minute and bump you off your commute definitely exist. One of them just did it on my flight I was operating to a junior dude, kicking the kid off right as we were boarding. His words: "sucks to suck".
Again, I'm simply reiterating why another company MIGHT (not necessarily will be) better if you're going to plan on commuting for your 121 career. Having a reserved jumpseat, better call-out times, 1x required flights instead of 2x, those all go a long way in reducing stress and increasing predictability.
I will remind you, and all the non-UAL commuters, the jump seat is not yours. It is the Captains. UAL jumpseat is usually governed by senioriety. Everyone knows this. To claim getting bumped off
your seat is disingenuous. It is not your seat at any point. You say it is a problem, I say those are the way the rules work at UAL. Plan accordingly.
You want to commute? That's fine, but there can be complications.