Big thank you from a Commuter.
 

With all the craziness of the last year jump-seating stuff on OAL I would like to share a feel good story. I just want to say a huge thank you to the captain that got me home.

Needed to get home, I was on a paid ticket, 2 legger on mainline but 1st leg was delayed. Landed, ran to the gate but the gate agent was already down the jet bridge. I started to pull out my cellphone looking for hotels for the last flight of the night was in my mind gone.

A minute later the captain walked up with the gate agent and despite the agents understandable frustration got me on to go home. I thanked him all the way down the jet bridge the best I could, and the FAs gladly helped me stash my carry on.

Though he probably will not see this, I’d like to express how thankful I am and I’m sure I can speak for all commuters here, that these kinds of actions are 100% appreciated.

I’ve missed many commutes home before and I know it’s part of the game so when somebody pulls a hero move like this I can’t say thank you enough. If you ever see me again drinks on me!

Kudos to the captain to get you on awesome 😎

Had a similar thing happen to me at JFK of all places last week. Ran through airport to get to my commuter flight at B31. Got to the gate 10 minutes before push and of course door closed and Agent finishing up at her terminal. I walked and said “so door is already closed?” She said “yep” without even looking up. So as I am walking across terminal to the lounge for my 4 hour sit until the next flight, while muttering “F..ing New York” I hear behind me “sir, sir”. I turn around and the gate agent says “they have maintenance on board and so I can get you down the jet bridge while they finish up”. WOW! She quickly listed me for the jumpseat on the full flight even though I had been listed non rev. Another WOW! Anyway thanks to her. Renews my faith in humanity.

Thank you for the smile, that was nice to read.

It's great to see people making the walk! Wouldn't it be nice if we could open MICrew and easily see who is operating a flight? I know you mentioned that you are on a paid ticket this time, but if you are listed for the jump seat, I wish there was a way to access crew members' information (easily). I've had a few who were cutting it close and texting me, and I make sure we don't leave even a second early, or at least until they are on the aircraft.

This!

filler

sadly some pilots just don’t care. I jumpseat frequently on a particular fleet and when I tell them there’s other pilots up top trying to get on a shrug of the shoulder is a common response.

Ya, that's pretty bad, but when you don't commute and don't non-rev, it's likely not at top of mind because it's not something you deal with. I think for many, it's not that they don't care, it's just that it's not something they think about as often as those who live the commute/non-rev life. I've had gate agents open the door when I saw a JSer run up to the window because I truly want to get people on. But I freely admit that at 15-20 prior, it's often not at the top of my mind. If I remember, I certainly make the walk and I'm actively trying to incorporate the walk into my routine.

Which fleet? PM if you like.

On the 73N I have never once seen a CA make the walk, though many inquire about nonrevs on the way down and when the GA comes down after boarding.

I can understand it not being top of mind for a non commuter…..but when the jumpseater mentions other pilots trying to get somewhere I’d think at that point it would become top of mind instead of an ignorant shoulder shrug.

lol you can’t figure that one out? Here’s a hint: it’s the same fleet that rarely has an apu running.

MD?

Filler

Good talk, thanks.

The 7er. It’s the 7er.

In ATL? I'm NYC based.

Apu up

FOs can also make the walk, right?

I mean they're not leaving without you so....

Anyone can make the walk. However, FOs usually don't take the initiative to do so.

How would the gate agent respond to an FO saying "put them on or else" because the captain will probably need to enforce that.

FO tells gate agent, "The Captain sent me out here to see if you got all the non-revs and jumpseaters on, because he said we're not leaving without them unless every seat is filled, including all FA and cockpit jumpseats."

Is that so hard?

FOs still outrank gate agents last time I checked.

It's not hard but the conversation needs to have "captain authority." So the Captain might as well do it if the FO brings it up. I'm not sure we have "rank" at Delta, just responsibility for operations and boarding falls under the gate agent. The parking brake falls under the captain so they have the ultimate responsibility/power.

there is no “rank” in that way.

Eh, it doesn't matter which pilot does it. I make the walk 90% of the time, and I had a trip a year or so ago where my FO obviously noticed that I'd make the walk. I hadn't done it yet this leg and he was getting up to use the lav and said "want me to go check if there are any jumpseaters up top?" I said hell yeah thanks bro! Pretty sure the gate agent probably didn't even notice he wasn't the captain.

I think we need an SOP for this.

Unless the Captain is busy doing other Capt stuff in the cockpit, or briefing the FA's or all that other stuff Captains do. If I had time I'd gladly do it, if the FO wasn't busy, I've got no problem with him doing it. As a 28 year commuter I was always happy when -somebody- did it, FO or Captain.

I'll retell this story about who controls the flight. Back around 1989 one cold February morning at 6am in BOS we were on a 767 getting ready to go to SLC, a 5hr leg. The A FA comes up and offers us coffee and says, "We're 15 meals short in first class." I (FO) immediately get on the radio to ops and tell them, and it's around 30 minutes from push.

About 5 minutes before push the A comes up front and says the meals haven't arrived yet. Captain tells me to call ops and tell them we're not leaving without them. A few minutes later the agent comes with the final paperwork and the Captain says, "We're waiting for 15 FC meals." Agent says, "Nope, you're going without them." Captain says, "No, we're not." Agent says, "Captain, until you push back, this is MY flight, and I say you're going without them!" He then turns, leaves the cockpit and shuts the boarding door, pulls the jetway off. Tug driver calls and asks if we're ready to push.

Captain looks at me and says, "Tell the tug driver to push us back 10 feet and stop."

As we push back I see the agent standing in the jetway with his arms folded and a smug smile across his face. Then we stop. The Captain unlocks his window, rolls it open and yells to the agent, "Is it my flight now?"

Agent smiles and says, "Yes Captain, it's your flight now!"

Captain yells, "Ok, thanks!" Then he rolls his window shut, looks at me and says, "Tell the tug to pull us back into the gate."

So I do and he does and the Captain sets the parking brake and the agent brings the jetway up and the Captain yells to the FA to disarm the doors and they do. The boarding door is opened and the irate agent bursts into the cockpit and says loudly, "What's the problem?!"

The Captain very calmly says, "MY flight is short 15 first class meals and we're not going without them."

I was laughing right in the agent's face and his face was red as he stormed out but you know what? 15 minutes later we had our 15 first class meals!

The captain was a senior LCA and not going to be pushed around by a gate agent, and this all happened long before the D-10 nonsense was invented. He never got huffy or even raised his voice, because he knew he was going to win that argument. I feel the same way about getting non-revs and JS on.

Not if you don't assert yourself.

Could work fine. I'm just not willing to put the FO in an awkward position, but if they volunteer, absolutely! And they have my full backing. Probies, possibly having to do it myself anyway or tone keep me in that mode.

Corporal Captain was a rank on M*A*S*H just like Sergeant Major but an officer. What is the rank hierarchy at Delta? I can't find it in the FOM or anywhere for that matter.

this isn’t the military. the first officer has no supervisory rank over a gate agent. we all work together within our own duties. treating people as your coworker instead of a subordinate will yield far better results

https://youtu.be/ca3IQdfuWTQ?feature=shared

respect…my…authority

Nobody says he's a supervisor and of course we work together as a team....until one of the team members need some guidance when it comes to getting non-revs and jumpseat riders on. You want to leave them behind because an agent wants to shut the door 10 minutes early, that's on you. Just remember, karma's a *****.

cool. none of that establishes a rank. the flight crew doesn’t “out rank” a gate agent, because we aren’t in the military anymore.

This is true. However, the CA has the ability not to leave early. If the gate agent refuses to let a Non-rev of JS on, it becomes hard for them to explain that as we sit there with the door open until the scheduled push time.

this is where working *with* your coworkers comes into play. the results will be way better than pretending they’re your subordinate

If that's the hill you want to die on, have at it. You must remember that it's the Captain who has to do the carpet dance.

BTW....what is a " team member"?

Nobody's doing a carpet dance or gonna die on a hill, over a delayed pushback to get non-revs or a JS on!

Your kind scare me! Please, put me on your no-fly list!

Aren't you and sailing on everyones nofly list now? Sarcasm aside, the captain should make the walk. If they don't grab thier hat and MARCH up to the podium!

Our uppper management in flight operations would disagree in totality with this statement. Captains are very much at the forefront and are indeed, "front line leaders", in all aspects of the operation. Sometimes being a leader means your make decisions that some people don't like. Take the gate agent example here. The person in command is the Captain, solely without question. that extends to beyond the foot print of the aircraft.

Mostly agree with you here. It's really not that hard and doesn't require you to be a richard about it either. My "technique"... When I get to the gate, and introduce myself to the gate agent for the trip and check in with them, I start with usual pleasantires "how's it going this evening, have you been busy? Fine day we're having today, at least we don't have to de-ice, etc. etc.". After they give me the litany on the load and pax counts, specials, pay load opt info (if applicable) my next question is always; "How many non-revs and how does it look getting them on the flight". By asking this simple question, it let's the GA know I am looking at it, and it's something I care about. I would do the same for JSers too, but I fly int'l so mostly we are just dealing with non-revs.

I've found this works out pretty well. Many times the GA when they come down to ask us if we've signed off etc like to add "Hey Cap, I got all the on-revs on for you". I smile and say "thank you very much for helping us out".

As you say OOfff, it's not hard, you just have to find a way that works without being a richard.

there are many ways that management asks us to lead. there are even more ways to actually lead. one of those ways is to be someone’s commanding officer. we are not the gate agents’ commanding officer nor do we “out rank” them, because—again—this isn’t the military anymore.


yep. treat your coworkers like humans and not subordinates. works better in almost every situation.

Exactly. Who is getting calls about a delay for passenger/non-rev/jump seat issues? No one. Even if they were calling, yep - we delayed due to issues getting a jump seater on. End of call. Geez.