Originally Posted by
nicholasblonde
1) Have the CAPTAIN, not the gate agent, find out if there is ballast and what the min cargo number is.
2) You don't fly for AA do you??? I believe we now take unlimited AA j/s riders, but we didn't for a while since their management still restricts us to 1 D3 j/s rider--even in the back--they are supposedly changing it so we now allow unlimited AA riders as a gesture of cooperation.
3) What route (or at least the general distance of that route if you don't mind me asking). Makes a huge difference. I'm assuming it's INBOUND to a NWA hub, right?
4) Who does the ground handling at the station/hub where you are getting denied.
I'll look into it for you....PM me if you want to be discrete...
1. I have asked the CA several times and with plenty of notice. Generally they find out the min. number (which I know is never going to be what we have) and then when the time to close up comes it is just some shoulder shrugging and see you later because there is never enough. I can only think of 2 occasions when it worked out in the last 2 years.
2. Not AA...
3. It is a short route. Less than 250 miles. The problem is always out of MEM. I have never had the problem coming into MEM because I usually always get a seat or if it looks full I drive pre-emptively because the JS is so unreliable. LET ME REITERATE THAT THIS IS ALWAYS A BALAST ISSUE. IF THERE IS WX AND I KNOW THERE WILL BE AN ALTERNATE AND OVERWEIGHT ISSUES WILL BE HAPPENING I DON'T EVEN TRY. EVERY TIME IT IS THE CARGO NUMBER THAT BECOMES THE PROBLEM AND A LACK OF BALAST. I don't know if that is what you meant by the length of the route but maybe it is because there isn't a whole lot of fuel on board.
4. Whoever handles the ramp in MEM. I was under the impression that it was 9E that handled the ramp in MEM.
Thanks for looking into it. The 9E guys have always been nice but I have never had the sense they really cared whether I got on or not. Certainly I can say with confidence that no one has ever made any special effort to help me out. Never rude but never too helpful and since the JS is a privilege I just write down the flight number and details then walk away and out to my car for the 3.5-4 hour drive home. I usually always report it to our jumpseat chairman but there is not much he can do other than report it to yours I suppose.
UA