Yesterday while flying out of Atlanta, I have to say my uneasiness about becoming a reluctant transcon commuter was realized in a big way. Captain of the flight had a hall from A1 gate to E1 gate for a 46 minute turn and although I had everything ready to go the gate agent would not allow 9 passengers and 3 non-revs on to the aircraft because it was with in 5 minutes of departure. The big deal was that one of the people waiting for the gate agent to come to his senses was the Captain of the flight!

All in all when the gate agent decided to listen for just a moment everyone was boarded and we left only 7 minutes late.

So I ask all of my flying peers to help out all of us employees, pilots commuting, employee families taking that one vacation together or for crying out loud the passenger paying our salaries, by checking with the gate and even walking the boarding area to see if anyone will be left behind because of the OT zero debacle (and gate agents feeling they control the jumpseat). I know we cant always get everyone on but sometimes the guy with 4 stripes or even 3 stripes can do a lot to get everyone on board.

Sorry to rant but asking for help from the guys and gals flying the line seems to be better than having high blood pressure and being angry....

Thanks again for looking out for one another especially when more than a few of us are now forced to commute......

BTW we did make phone calls about this particular incident and it met with less than confident results. But we are not done making calls either..


Thanks