veez737

While they're still "working on the computer glitch", can we Jumpseat on other carriers while not in CASS? Is there any official documentation anywhere that we can present to a gate agent to convince them to let us on?
Any Fedex guys on mil leave have any recent Jumpseat experience on other carriers?
Thanks

PurpleTail

I am not prior military so I do not have first hand knowledge BUT if you are on mil leave it is my understanding that YES, you may jumpseat. You will not be in the CASS system so you will not be cockpit eligible but if an empty seat in the back is available you can ride.

Your FDX ID at the gate should suffice.

Good luck.

Tractor Bob

I have tried while on mil leave and told at the gate that since you are not in CASS, but should be, they can't verify your privileges and therefore no jumpseat. In front or back. That was on AA and CAL.

That was a few years ago, maybe something has changed.

SC-7

Latest word from the ACP when I asked recently was: let us know when you want to go, we'll have to send a letter to jumpseats so they'll be able to book you. This is on FDX, so I suspect what tractor bob says about offline is right on.

That's contrary to what was advertised earlier.

SaltyDog

From the sidelines: Sounds like a semantics issue with TSA and management.

Gunter

This is another one of those "I'll look into it" issues OR is aware of. It ended up like the others. (Accepted fares, deviate one leg/deviate all)


FedEx POLICY is to take you out of everything if you go on mil leave. They claim they can't easily 'change' the system to keep you in. BS. They don't want to keep you in the system. Other places do. FedEx does extra work to yank you out and then put you back in, even for as little as 2 weeks of leave. Another example of when they want to spend man hours on a project they will. When they don't they come up with excuses not to.

I don't think they want to "reward" you for your mil service by maintaining your employee privileges. It's a confused work ethic oriented point of view.

Think about this kind of stuff when they thank you for your professionalism and mil service. Behind the scenes they want to make it difficult to go on mil leave.

Tractor Bob

My buddies at AA, CAL, JB, etc all keep their CASS rights while on Mil Leave. And I agree, it probably just a semantics issue with the airlines. We can track a package while in flight, worldwide, but can't change a line of code. Go figure.

kalyx522

Hi,
I don't work for Fedex but I am headed to the reserves in a bit, and am curious about this situation as well. It sounds to me like Fedex doesn't allow pilots on mil leave to cabin jumpseat. My regional does not let mil leave guys maintain their travel benefits (nonrev) either. I'm wondering, is this legal? I happened to glance at that ubiquitous federal work law poster the other day and for USERRA it stated that employers cannot deny you "any benefit of employment." I would think travel benefits would fall under this category.

SaltyDog

kalyx522,
USERRA is a good statute written in current form in 1994, but it was written in a very broad sense to cover all employers and maximum view of common situations to promote an all volunteer military. It does not specifically address every new rule like CASS. CASS is a post statute invention. Therefore, it requires a well written document that meets all federal requirements and concerns at a particular employer. There is no single arbitor of the USERRA statute. Just like TSA ad the FAA have folks dedicated to our individual airlines, these same folks and managements have a variation of interpretations of FAR's and TSA rules.
Regarding benefits. USERRA specifically addresses vacation and pensions. It does not specifically address non rev benefits. USERRA simply states that a military member on military duty must be treated the same as someone else who is not flying airplanes for a time. Example: You are treated on military duty in a non paid status. That is fine under USERRA. However, you must be treated like any other employee on a non paid status at your employer. If other pilots are allowed non rev benefits at your employer while in a non paid status, then you must be accorded same benefits. If your company excludes these pilots from using non rev benefits while in this status, then it is USERRA legal to exclude you too. This can vary from employer to employer.
Hope this helps.

sryan423

I'm on military leave from FedEx. I just completed a trip from Denver to LA. On the way out to LA Southwest understood I was not in CASS, but still eligible for a seat in the back. On the way back to DEN United would not clear me for the front or the back. They claim the computer will not let them clear us for a seat in the back. Frontier understood the situation and I was able to ride on them. About a month ago I also was able to ride in the back with American.