Originally Posted by
Pontius Pilot
AA and AE gate agents, on the whole, stink.
I've been treated very rudely and poorly by AA and AE gate agents...and I fly for EAGLE!!! I can't imagine how it works for OAL with those agents. I've JS'ed on Continental, USAir, Delta, AirTran, Southwest and been treated with far more respect and consideration than my own company. FAR more.
My recommendation is to ask politely to speak to the Captain. If they deny you this, ask politely if you can speak with a supervisor. Ask politely why your are being denied the jumpseat. Get the agent's name, take down the flight number, date, time, gate and an employee number if you can. Then report them to your union JS committee and AE's branch of ALPA and Eagle if you feel up to it.
Never raise your voice, make threats or tell them you are going to report them. They'll report you for intimidation. Just be a true professional and find out the facts.
IMHO, there has been a very big problem with gate agents and attitude lately. They want to play God with the JS...and the rumors I've heard attribute it to the fact that they don't have access to it themselves. The only way this is going to get resolved is for pilots to complain.
That being said, there are some really great gate agents at Eagle and AA. They have gone out of their way to help me out and I love them for it...but the bad seeds spoil the bunch.
At least if you can find the Captain (or the FO who will talk to the Captain for you), you will probably get on the plane. We don't leave with a jumpseater if we can get them on. And the Captain does have the authority and ability to get the gate agent to comply, or as an above poster stated, they can take the delay. Then we will just explain to the CP what happened, and 99.9%, the CP will be on our side and go to bat for us.
You are right on there. My home town airport has very polite gate agent but unfortunately they don't seem to understand the js process very well. Seems they aren't given proper training on the subject. I do try to talk to the Capt or FO but with your tight turns I rarely get the chance. Again, thanks for the rides and I'm very happy when I get to return the favor.
The last time I tried to ask why I was denied the js the gate agent she got very defensive right away. I didn't get upset at all and her answer to me was "your a pilot you should know why you didn't get on". I did talk to a supervisor and he finally admitted she just screwed up.