Originally Posted by Sniper

We've heard this line many times before, though.

After 9/11, pilots of other airlines were told, 'APA pilots are going to take it in the shorts, but we'll be able to get some no cost items taken care of, at least, like our jumpseat policy.'

Then it was 'We're going to fix some of the 'small items', no cost stuff like jumpseating, in this new contract.

If you dig on this forum, you might find AA pilots remarking 'APA has limited negotiating capital - we're not going to waste it on jumpseats'. And they didn't.

The policy hasn't changed, over a decade after everyone else fixed their policies as part of the concessions they took after 9/11. Is jumpseating and commuting the biggest issue to address - nope, we all agree, its not. However . . .

AA now stands out as having the worst jumpseat policies in the industry - literally, the worst:

• They charge their own pilots to jumpseat.
• They limit many pilots to the amount of jumpseats on the aircraft, so, if you show up 2nd, and you're not on the 'unlimited domestic list', that AA plane will push with 100 seats open because a Delta pilot, who's on the unlimited list, checked in 5 seconds before you, and he took the 'one jumpseat'. Had he checked in second, both of you would be on.
• They have a list of only 5-6 airlines that can jumpseat internationally. 100 seats open on that international flight? Too bad, you're not on the list.
• They're the only major mover of commuters who REQUIRES pilots to list for a jumpseat prior to arrival at the gate of departure.
• Their employee culture around jumpseating is HORRIBLE. Where else does a gate agent or a Flight Attendant tell the Captain how the jumpseat is going to work? "Where can I sit, Captain?" is usually replied to with "Ask the Purser/Lead", or "Whatever the seat you were assigned (by the gate agent)". I'm not sure if the Captains just don't know that this isn't standard treatment in the industry, don't care, or are completely neutered. The pilots seem to rarely come up the jetway to check on jumpseaters either.

I know 'aa73' has personally really helped some guys out jumpseating, and been thanked on this forum for doing so. So, while as an individual pilot, he's not the issue, if the US Airways guys think this is just a little thing that can be easily taken care of, you clearly haven't jumpseated on AA lately - lucky you. This has been going on for a LONG time. It seems ingrained in the culture of the gate agents and FA's of AA to question the PIC's authority on these issues, and for the pilot's to demur. These cultural norms have calcified now.

Good luck fixing the policy, and the culture, guys. It'll be a great day when an AA Captain says "Welcome aboard! We might have an open seats in first. If so, its your's, and enjoy the flight." . . . just like its done at US Airways today.

Originally Posted by DALMD88FO

That's not always the case. I commute JFK to MCO. I've tried to commute on AA exactly once and will never do it again. I did everything in the jumpseat guide published by ALPA, made a res and and even asked if I needed to do anything else. Nope you're good.

So day of the commute, home of all things, I go straight to the gate and wait in line to see the gate agent to get CASS'd. I had plenty of time when this started now it was within 30 mins of push. Gate agent tells me that I need to return to the lobby and go to the nonrev lane and have them CASS me there. I tell her if I do that there is a strong possibility that I will miss the flight. Luckily the Capt of the flight was right there and asked why I had to go back to the lobby. Gate agent then says that some of the gate computers can't do CASS. Capt asks "Can this one do it" she answers yes and he tells her to CASS me. It took all of two seconds.

Then the real fun begins. One of the people I had been waiting in line behind was a very old AA FA. She, unfortunately, was standing within earshot when the Capt, talking to me away from the gate agent, apologized and said that he might even have a first class seat for me. This FA began to read the Capt the riot act about how if she has to pay for a first class upgrade then he had better not put some other airline pilot jumpseater up there. I told him that I would be happy to just have a ride. I've never been back since AA only has one flight a day to MCO that fits my schedule.

jetBlue on the other hand has always treated me better than our Delta gate agents, FA's or pilots.

Originally Posted by justfun

Here at AA, the one size fits all airline, HR has a tremendous amount of leverage. The management side has a large amount of ex FA's that literally hate this pilot group. They don't want us to have something that they perceive as being a bonus for only the pilot group and not any other group.

If you saw the article a week or so back, where the FA's on a 777 bound for SA, had an unrully pax that they had to subdue twice, they came out in public and criticized the CA for not diverting right away. They did this anonymously, but the simple fact that they thought it was ok to do this in public is typical of the attitude on the other side of the door. To the company's credit they came out and said it was the CA's decision period.

We have been fighting this for years. So the comment by the FA at the gate about the jumpseater sitting in first is typical.

We have a long way to go on this atmosphere being changed.

Originally Posted by justfun

Here at AA, the one size fits all airline, HR has a tremendous amount of leverage. The management side has a large amount of ex FA's that literally hate this pilot group. They don't want us to have something that they perceive as being a bonus for only the pilot group and not any other group.

If you saw the article a week or so back, where the FA's on a 777 bound for SA, had an unrully pax that they had to subdue twice, they came out in public and criticized the CA for not diverting right away. They did this anonymously, but the simple fact that they thought it was ok to do this in public is typical of the attitude on the other side of the door. To the company's credit they came out and said it was the CA's decision period.

We have been fighting this for years. So the comment by the FA at the gate about the jumpseater sitting in first is typical.

We have a long way to go on this atmosphere being changed.

Originally Posted by Skubajet

As a US 3rd lister who is very excited about this merger, I must say I had no idea about the AA non rev policy and the culture wrt the FAs. That is unbelievable. With the US management team taking over, you would think that would change. If not, what would be the process to change for the better? With all the changes for everyone at this merged airline, I would think now is the time to truly make this the best airline all around.

Originally Posted by Skubajet

As a US 3rd lister who is very excited about this merger, I must say I had no idea about the AA non rev policy and the culture wrt the FAs. That is unbelievable. With the US management team taking over, you would think that would change. If not, what would be the process to change for the better? With all the changes for everyone at this merged airline, I would think now is the time to truly make this the best airline all around.

Originally Posted by EMBFlyer

Isn't the US VP of HR taking over for the new company? Hopefully, that'll bring some change.