I was inverted

Speak for yourself…some refuse to be indoctrinated in blewspeak and still use normal terms like flight attendant, pilot, ramper, gate agent, etc.

dualinput

Even a ramper themselves that was hired yesterday. No skin in the game and you can’t plan to go anywhere if you could end up 30 deep bc of the stroke of a key 24 hours out.

At spirit no one is an actual employee besides the unionized work groups and those at HQ. I have fair confidence when looking at flights we will be the top of the list and the first to get seats.

likeitis

Except nearly everyone except pilots can take a minute break from their work to check in. If I'm over Nebraska 24 hours to my departure I can't check in for my flight until after the parking checklist.

likeitis

No WE don't.

Flyhayes

I mean...we do have inflight wifi...

Flyhayes

The thing is, most gate agents and rampers don't really travel that much. So it's usually not much of an issue. The gate agents are also usually good about trying to get people on, by hook or crook. As pilots we also have some other tools to help us determine how bad a load actually is. How many customers have actually checked in etc. So it's not really that bad.... and I commute on the micky mouse express.
Pre Covid, we also didn't overbook, so there was almost always a seat available when I was using JB as a lowly OAL pilot. Technically we still don't overbook, unless AA rolls people onto us last min. But we do fly higher loads now, where as before they always seemed to keep open seats.

mikenike

Children must be unmarried, qualified dependents (under IRS rules) and under the age of 24.

Things rapidly become complicated if the child is not yours but being married to the child's natural birth parent simplifies things.

SaintNick

It should be doh up to 24 hrs before hand. Then it’s locked in.

dualinput

I’m not really talking about commuting bc we always have the Jumpseat option. I’m more talking about traveling w a family of 4. Zero predictability until 24 hrs out and even then you have to be Jonny on the spot with the click and hope you are working or sleeping.

Navier Stokes

Why do you feel your family has any more of a need to travel than anyone else's family?

I fully support working flight crew commuting or self-deadheading having higher priority than other non-revs (and I hope positive space can stay). I don't think anyone going to Disney should boot off someone just trying to get to work or get home, no matter their seniority. On the other hand I will happily take a jumpseat even on a transcon if it helps additional people come on.

If you're travelling with family, any one of them is fully entitled to check in for the whole party if they're old enough to. Other workgroups have critical moments when they can't check-in too, not just us.

As pilots we have so much information available to us that allows us to make the best assessment of which flight has the best loads, and it really isn't too hard to make it work given some flexibility. It's certainly not zero predictability at all till 24 hours prior, since we rarely overbook. On every flight you list on you can see the full list of others who have listed and their priority so you can determine worst-case and best-case scenarios. Day of you can see the number of people who've checked in and have boarded as well. It really aint too bad most of the time if you're willing to do any legwork........