Hello ya’ll . Finally made it home . I appreciate the great feed back. There always has to be that 1 Troll per thread discussion and nice to see he has joined in hash tags and all. For the rest of you who were perceptive enough to understand I was just sharing my personal experience, I appreciate the positive feed back. I have had bad experiences before at other carriers (gate agents taking it upon themselves to deny jumpseat). I want to take the opportunity to say I am not blaming any one individual. Captain probably didn’t know I was there , jumpseat coordinator was blaming the other lady ...whatever it was, there was an obvious break down somewhere along the chain...I just wanted to share my experience in hopes that the next offline commuter traveling for the first time has a better experience than me . Personally I did my one and done and my curiosity is satisfied as to how the process works at FedEx . We see from time to time offline pilots as well as FX pilots commute in our jumpseat. I will continue to look forward to getting you to where you need to go and continue to ask gate agent “any jumpseaters?” so that we do our part in ensuring nobody gets left behind with an empty jumpseat .


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Pretty funny thread, especially you Anthrax! Was jumping on AA with my family to ORD. Gate agent said “airplane is full- have to wait for the next one”. Wife (who was traveling with kids on miles) said there was at least 8 open seats from her vantage point, what she could see being all buckled in & such. They pushed 10mins early. Obviously the gate agent had NO desire to get me on the plane. Whatever, took the next one- but was a hassle and obviously due to incompetence/lack of concern by the agent. And by the way, went up to the counter (it’s called being respectfully proactive) 3 times to check on the status of my jumpseat.

With all this being said, I never went onto a web board (before now) to complain about it. Nature of the beast...

And before anyone starts in on “its easier on the Pax side”, no, it isn’t. Was a Pax guy for 8yrs. Not easier. You can keep rolling over to “the next flight”, but so is EVERYONE else. Not easy, even with the preference of the seats cockpit seats.

Anthrax- #onthesecrybabieswithout mercy 🤣🤣

 

Does your iPad make a ding sound and vibrate in your pocket when you get a company email, because my phone does.

 

I have a hard time fitting my iPad in my pocket - ruined more than a few pairs of pants trying - plus the stares I got in Narita were unsettling. However, it does make a nice little "ding" when I get a new email. I also get a red circle with the number of new emails inside with absolutely zero logins or inputs on my part whenever the iPad is "connected" via data or wifi.

I don't claim to be an expert on any of this. But, compared to the way I used to have to get email by logging into VIPs or the huge hassle on my personal laptop after the migration, this is a breeze. No effort, no login, they just show up. As an added bonus, they're not connected to my personal tech world at all. Only on the company iPad where they belong. YMMV, but I recommend you give it a try.

 

I have to agree with Frank on his comment. Before the new current email system it was easy to see when I had email because as soon as I logged onto PFC I’d see the email icon with any new messages. We don’t get that notification on PFC anymore as far as I can tell. I do have it set up on my email icon with the company iPad and check it, but not nearly as often as I did under the old system. If it’s time critical they better call or text me.

 

Ok. So, two choices.
1. Login to VIPS, using password and token code, see a number indicating new emails, clicking on that link to take you to a new tab and check new emails.
2. Open iPad, put thumb (or preferred finger) on home button, note a red circle on an app icon and touch that to take you to your email inbox.

I'm really having a hard time understanding why anyone would prefer option 1.

 

This really stinks. Nobody wants to leave a jumpseater behind. I think yes, it is likely the captain never got the email. If the crew had called and asked before they walked out, it's possible that jumpseats never even mentioned it. As far as them saying they were waiting for captains permission and trying to get ahold of him, it's possible that all they were doing was waiting to get an email and not pursuing or even checking it. I don't know.

But if it was getting close to show and jumpseats told me they were still waiting for captains permission, I would assume that it's not going to happen unless I take action. Our email system is so screwed up that unless you're an iPad person (many or us aren't), likely you won't even see the email request. Which is why I checked the block to automatically give captain's permission on all flights.

For any offline jumpseaters that find themselves in this position, here is what I recommend. Find a FedEx pilot to help you out! We will go out of our way to help you get to where you're going. If I happened to be with you in the jumpseat area and you told me your situation, I would try to contact the captain (or first officer, who would be able to pass on the request). I'd go look for them in ops, give them a call or a text. I wouldn't want to bother someone who might be napping, but if it's 30 min prior to show, yeah, I'm calling you. If you're waiting till show time (or later) to see if you have captain's permission, I don't think the crew has any idea you are there. Ask one of us to help you, we will track the crew down! Hate to leave a jumpseater behind.

In fact if you ever have questions about anything jumpseating related, just flag one of us down and ask us. Everyone wants to help their fellow pilots.

 

Many people have an aversion to their iPads and only open it up when they have to, it stays in their flight bag. So.....option 1.

 

Ok. To each his own and I get it. I don't want to come across like I'm trying to convince someone to use one type of computer or another. I really don't care. Yes, iPads have their limitations. If I was typing lengthy, complex emails to co-workers, I'd deal with the login hassle to have a real keyboard available.
95% of my company emails are DH tickets, rest period coordination or company credit card transaction notifications.

I've heard a few folks here complain about the new email and I had the same complaints until I changed my method. So, all I'm doing is making sure that folks are aware of this option. It's really not a difficult transition to make. Still like to login to the computers in the AOC, print a hard copy flight plan and all the other "old method" options. Do it.

But, when all I have to do to check company email is open my ipad, stick my thumb on the home button and look at an icon - I'll make the mental change required to now have my iPad = company email.
If one's "aversion" to a piece of tech is blocking the option to make a particular task much easier, then at some point, I think they have to admit their problem is self induced and stop complaining about it.

 

The point that I was making is that if you are asking me for the js to get to cdg next week, my way will get you an answer immediately instead of an hour prior to Showtime. I rarely open my iPad on days off, but seem to have my phone on me pretty much all of the time.