aileronjam

Just my opinion... but one of the very few things we have left in this business is each other. I'm not just talking about pilots either. ALL the employee groups at ALL the airlines should be looking out for one another. While each of us is more than happy to sit in back to get a ride to work or home, a seat in first class after a 4-day trip is a nice way to wind down a bit. We've given away everything else, (pay, QOL, etc...), this is one of the few things that we as flight crew still have a modicum of control over. I say let's try to take care of each other when we can.

dawgpilot

Sorry you had this negative experience. Unfortunately this isn't an isolated experience to Alaska. I commuted on a large East Coast carrier that merged/was bought by a smaller West Coast carrier and only received a FC seat once in two years - upgraded by FA. If I ever get a Captain seat again, I can assure you that it will be my policy to allow JS'ers in FC - even though it might be against Mgmts policy.
DawgPilot, soon to be DawgFurloughed

PicF16

Thanks for all the great support!

Regarding the Captain's quote of the Chief Pilot at AS that "he would rather see first class empty and put the jumpseater in the cockpit." It would make more sense to me if at the very least they grabbed a revenue pax from the back and put them in first then offered the seat in the back to the JS.

Still wondering if anybody knows where this policy at Alaska came from???

(my belief is that it should be left up to the PIC vs putting it in the ops manual)

dzlpwr

Conflict of a jumpseater or non-revs in FC is that the airline's marketing of the FF programs offers free upgrades to paying passengers that fly a min amount of miles/year with that airline. Once all the MVP-Golds are upgraded, and the NW Golds are upgraded, and soon DL Golds are upgraded,,,, next the MVP's are upgraded.

If there is at least one non-upgraded MVP in the back that spots a uniformed pilot in first, the first thing they are probably going to do is assume the pilot is a jumpseating/non-rev employee. Then there's a good chance they are going to feel screwed out of an upgraded. (there are hundreds of posts on other forums regarding "pilot in FC, Elite Customer not upgraded, shame on xzy airline").

Did your flight depart with open seats in FC? Seems like there is always more elites than seats. If there were open seats, and all elites were already upgraded, it seems like no one in coach should be upset with you in FC being that they don't qualify for an upgrade.

Sounds as if the gate agent bent the rules and the guy ulimately in charge didn't want to put on his carpet dancing shoes.

joejet

I'm not surprised this happened. For the last 20 years Alaska Airlines have proved they have no class. I worked for Horizon air during the 90s and we consistently received poor treatment from Alaska, (we were the redheaded stepchild). My friend was once denied the jumpseat out of Anchorage because the captain had his then "new" leather jacket in the second jumpseat. There are too many bad jumpseat stories I know of personally to fit in this forum. With Alaska, expect the worst and you won't be disappointed.
"would rather have first class empty with jumpseaters in the cockpit than let them sit in the back."

rather - is subjective. That captain doesn't have a spine.

Sorry to hear you were treated poorly, but I'm not surprised.

I now work overseas, and will always extend nonrevs or jumpseaters the best service possible.

cesnacaptn

What was the destination of the flight out of ANC? Maybe the captain didn't want a second jumpseat rider for a long flight. When I knew I was the second jumpseater on a 4 hour flight I walked up to the captain and said, "I know it's a long flight, but do you mind if you have two jumpseat riders?" I didn't want him to feel obligated to ride between my legs for that long.

Nopac

I used to JS quite a bit on Alaska back and forth from LAX to PDX, and was always treated well. But the funny thing is, I had this exact experience about 10 years ago. Coach was full and the gate agent and lead FA offered me the one remaining First Class seat. Captain summoned me to the cockpit and explained the rules and I wound up in the jumpseat. It was awkward, but no big deal. Wonder if it was the same captain?

(I wouldn't otherwise mention it except that my experience was identical to that of PicF16's.) The Alaska folks have always been very, very nice to work with. And anyway, the JS is a courtesy, and I'm just happy to get any seat when it comes down to it.

joejet

The flight was from ANC to SEA...but the length of the flight shouldn't matter. If Alaska pilots want to restrict the jumpseats on longer sectors or yank pilots out of first class, they should drop out of the program. I have had a few Alaska pilots jumpseat with me to Hawaii and Asia when I was at NWA - is that flight too long? One day I had an Alaska pilot show up in a snowmobile suit an boots - his car was broken into and all he had was his ID. He rode in my jumpseat to get home (the cabin was full). Many of my friends work at Alaska, but there are too many egomaniacs in the left seat of that company.

I hope things get better as the bad apples retire.

captnmajic

I couldn't agree more with that statement.

One comment I'd like to make:there's a huge difference in riding in the front end of a 757/747 across the pond versus the second jumpseat on a 737, which is right behind the captain's seat. It's extremely cramped for anything longer than an hour or so, especially if the captain's taller than about 5' 1''!

joejet

Your right that the second jumpseat is small, but it was just big enough for the Alaska captain's leather jacket. He denied my friend on the last flight out of Anchorage that night and told the agent he couldn't take a jumpseater because he had his jacket there. This type of behavior is not isolated at Alaska, I commuted for years to Anchorage myself and the grief we got from the agents to the pilots was uncalled for. They are all just very inconsistent. Now I won't tarnish all their employees because I have had pleasant experiences' too, but the negatives will never be forgotten.

My point is don't expect much from Alaska Airlines !!!