Jumpseating
 

I am trying to figure out if commuting while working for jetBlue will even be worth the effort. How easy/hard is it for jetBlue pilots to jumpseat on other airlines? Which airlines are most receptive? And finally what rules do jetBlue pilots fall under since we are CASS but not ALPA/APA?etc?

union afiliation gives no priority when jumpseating. obviously, pilots from the airline you jump on have priority, but if you are cass you can ride the cockpit,so your options are good. remember that if you jump on any airline and a pilot for that airline has bump you off the jump seat, just go ask him to write a pass and let you use the jump seat. i don't know of any case where anyone said no.

remember that some regionasl also have priority over you when going on mainline, again ask the pilot to let you jump and him/her write a pass.

lastly, when pilots write passes, they get charge from their company. offer them to pay the fee they get charge. it could be as much as $20 for regional guys on mainline passes , and those guys don't get pay very good, so them doing you a favor should not have to cost them .

check you squedules from the city you are commuting to/ from and check with the gate agents at your originating airport, they can give you a good idea of how full the flights are and how many jumoers they normally have.


between commuting and living in NY I would choose commuting every single time!!!

Jumpseating to/from JFK (or LGA) has been pretty good on most airlines. Obviously with more of the Majors airlines allowing unlimited jumpseats recently (American, Delta, United) to name a few it has gotten better. Plus most of the regional airlines have always had unlimted jumpseat to match what we do here at JB. AirTran has always done the 1st one free and the 2/3/4th one pay $25-30. But then it depends on which gate agent you get. Often I have not had to pay the extra $$$. It just depends.

However, a number of our(JB) pilots have been denied the jumpseat on NWA. There NWA jumpseat coordinator doesn't want to push his pilots, so there are a number of them who like to deny the JS to JetBlue pilots. So if NWA is the airline you plan to JS on, commute early or use a different route/airline if you can!

CASS (or now CASS II) is run by the TSA operated by a subcontractor (ARINC I think) and airlines choose to participate in it or not. JB pays for the cost of CASS at JB, but I guess at other airlines it is paid for by the company or the Union/pilots (depending). Thus it is an airline to airline agreement. The union/non-union doesn't affect it (or shouldn't).

Good Luck!

Just my opinion.....

FNG

What's with NWA, FNG? Why the cold shoulder, and what is their j/s coordinator's problem? We all know JetBlue welcomes all off-liners, and we appreciate it!

While the professional courtesy of offering the jumpseat to another pilot is at the Capt's discretion. It is a huge bummer when you see a guy (or gal) using the jumpseat to further a political agenda [SCABS aside] or personal grudge. The jumpseat is a benefit that we all have the opportunity to screw up, I'm sure that each company would jump at the chance to save monthly CASS fees if given the proper reason (like an pilot/union food fight). Just my two cents.

HSLD,

I respectfully disagree. The fact United and the rest of the BK carriers have, and will continue to, invest in CASS shows how critical the system is from their standpoint as well. I know that when United was pushing through CASS to the beancounters, they merely had to point to the OOP calls prior to 9-11 and compare the number to OOP after 9-11. It was a remarkable difference. No matter what, neither the companies nor the pilots want CASS to go away.


JayDub

There is a very good chance that offline jumpseat riding on union airlines will be coming to an end, unless you have a union card on top of your JB ID. This has been brewing for a while now, but it will be happening probably in 2007. Expect Delta to be the first one to implement this followed by NWA.

You are completely full of crap. As a matter of fact, I'll bet you are Kill Bill.

nope. and virtually ALL eligible pilots are welcome on my jumpseat. i say "virtually" because there are 2 or 3 CO pilots who will never set foot on my airplane.

and was that sincere? you think i have multiple handles here?

About 10 months ago, a JB CPT sat in the jumpseat on the plane I was flying (my leg LGA- DTW). My CPT and I was discussing hte situation with NWA and what was going to happen or the posssibilities of there of. Out of the blue (no pun ) this JB CPT said " You guys need to cut your labor costs and learn to live with less income". My CPT and I looked at each other and dropped our jaws!

There will be no JB pilot sitting in the jumpseat if I'm flyijng. They can sit in the back, but no way in H*LL will one sit in the jumpseat again. Don't care if they're CASS or not!