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Quote:

Originally Posted by Bad-Andy (Post 679657)

But, I will never forget his face as we taxied out and I turned around and thanked him for the ride home from London. I'm pretty sure he never considered leaving a j/s behind again... :D

How does the old saying go? "What goes around, comes around!"

Denny

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bad-Andy (Post 679657)

I also had one of the best and one of the worst experiences jumpseating on AA out of London. Coach was full, but first was wide-open. The gate agent told me she couldn't print me a boarding pass for first, the computer would not let her. But, she could sign me up for the cockpit j/s and we'd go talk to the Captain. (Long before 09/11). So, down we went. The Captain told me that sorry, it was too long of a flight to have a cockpit jumpseater. The gate agent reminded him that there were a dozen f/c seats open, but he still said no way. It was beyond his control. So, back up we went, and the agent told me to wait until it was gone and she would do everything in her power to find me a seat in the back (by upgrading someone, or a no show, etc). A few minutes before the door closed, she got a call to bring me back down and put me in the cockpit jumpseat.

When we got back down there, the Captain told me to take a seat on the jumpseat, sit there, keep my mouth shut, and don't even think about eating or sleeping. He also told me to thank the F/O who "demanded" that he give me a ride home.

After he went back to sleep, the IRO and the F/O told me the whole story, and apparently they threatened to turn him into both my j/s coordinator and their own as well as to the chief pilot if he left me (because I was a regional guy at the time, even though we were on the AA Int'l list). As it turns out, he commuted weekly on us, and they scared the crap out of him.

The score there was 1 prick of a Captain and 5 for the helpful people (the agent, the other pilots, and the F/A's). Ironically, about 5 months later, he needed a ride with me, in the cockpit, on the last chance he had to get to work. I considered leaving him there, but decided no good could come of that. So, he made it to work. But, I will never forget his face as we taxied out and I turned around and thanked him for the ride home from London. I'm pretty sure he never considered leaving a j/s behind again... :D

Awesome story sir! I enjoyed reading that. Just the fact that he rode with you a couple of months later made it all worth it! I was very glad to see the FO and IRO step up and say something. Good job on their part.

Was their any other reason he was wanting to leave you? He just didn't want you in the jumpseat that long? Why the heck wouldn't he have just put you in first? Sounds like he was more of a tallywhacker than anything else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishTiger (Post 679679)

Yeah, it was poetic. And no, he just told me he couldn't put me in First, and he just didn't want "an RJ guy" bothering him in the cockpit for that long (9 hours'ish). No other reason to deny me. He may have just been a grumpy old man, or he may have had a legit reason to not want to put me in First. Either way, I just wanted to get a ride home to get back to work (after having been bumped off of CAL flights and a US Airways flights by on-line jumpseaters)... But, my point was just that there are some great people at AA (gate agents, F/As, and pilots) that busted their humps to help me get on and get back to work. One guy was an ass, but the rest made it work... Since then I've never had anything but good experiences when jumping on AA (mainline -- the connection flights are a different story...).

I live in DFW and used AA almost exclusively to get to NYC. Now I don't get to ride on you guys and I kind of miss that part. LGA gate agents were always amazing and helpfull. Never had a problem with DFW agents either really. The FA's always gave me free snacks and sandwiches that otherwise cost money to the pax. First was almost always full though on that route so I never got it anyways, but I really didn't mind. I was offered first a couple of times though. Once I asked the FA if I'd be able to sit there, not seeing the gate agent right there. The agent said I had to sit in coach. The FA gave me a face because she did not want to undermine the agent. But as soon as the agent left, she came and got me to come sit in front. I always hesitate to ask to sit in first because I do know that AA employees have to pay. I don't really want them to see me sitting in first while they rough it in coach.

I'll never forget my very last commute before my furlough. Rode on the 777 to ORD and told the captain that this was my last jumpseat ride for awhile. He told the purser my story, and after that I received the red carpet ride. She sat me up front in first and gave me the best service ever. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishTiger (Post 678860)

I noticed there was a ton of room in the F/A's forward closet (only one bag and one jacket was in there), and I politely and quietly asked if it would be alright to put my bag in there. All she said was "Nope!" So I had to check it. )

That happened to me on AA before; also last week out of Philly. I hadn't JS on AA in a long time,( and I told her that), so I never called to list, forgot. The flight had 60 opens seats, empty lounge, she was not busy. She made me call on my phone, watched me on hold for 5 minutes while she chatted with the other lady behind the counter. Then she gave me a seat. whatever, I always get that anxious feeling in my gut when AA is my only choice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Co2Fur1EXwife (Post 680355)

Yeah my first time jumping on AA (ATL-ORD) for work was interesting. The agent unloaded and let me have it for not calling to list. I had no idea I needed to do that. I didn't know what to say, I just stood there with my mouth open. I think I stammered out a sorry after a while.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 678778)

Haven't flown domestic for awhile now, but when I did, most CAs would always offer a first class seat if it was open. If they didn't, I would prompt them.

Irish Tiger, sorry your experience was so bad on us. Perhaps you should stick to Delta so that they can always cater to your desires while bumming a free ride. In the meantime, if you ever j/s on one of my flights, you can be sure I will do everything I can (within my F/O capabilities) to get you your first class seat.

73

Have used AA better than 50% of the time commuting over the last 5 yrs, on the whole, has been a very pleasent experience. I'm sure with any carrier, when any of us have been commuting long enough, we have 'run into' the gate agent or crew member that is 'having a bad day'.

I would say more times than not while riding on AA, the CA (or the FA's) would 'mention' that if a First Class seat becomes available, they would move me up if they could. Regardless if it happens or not, the gesture is professional & appreciated.

In the end, I was just happy to get a ride to/from work.

SC

Due to traffic in the New York area I was running VERY late one day to try and catch the last available flight from LGA to get to work. I figured I would just call the number and check-in at the gate.

Boy was I wrong. Not without our wonderful TSA personal and the power hungry supervisor.

I arrived about 20 minutes prior to push at the security checkpoint and got the wonderful run around in what seemed to be a whole other language in itself. TSA told me I couldn’t clear without a boarding pass, I told them I’m a pilot trying to get to work, etc. They just didn’t get it. They told me to go back to the AA counter to get a boarding pass so I did that. Nobody was there. I than ran back to TSA and told them everyone is at the gate boarding.. that still didn’t help. They told me to run to AA baggage claim and get a boarding pass there. The ladies were very nice and told me they don’t have a boarding pass printer down there but to try the check-in counter; someone should be up there.

At this point it was about 5 minutes prior to push but I said what the heck I’ll try the counter one more time. Sure enough there were a few ladies there who were extremely helpful and went above and beyond the call of duty. Not only did they get me a boarding pass to clear security but they also called down to the gate and requested that the door remain open until I get on. I got down to the gate about 2 to 3 minutes after push sweating from all the running I was doing. When I went down to the cockpit to thank the crew not only for the ride but also for staying after push, I got a very warm welcome from them: “Hey anytime bud, grab a seat in first, have a drink, don’t worry about it.”

Unfortunately all the first class seats were taken but at this point I was just glad to get on. A class act by the American Airlines team and I will never forget it. You guy’s have some fine people over there. Keep up the good work!

Quote:

Originally Posted by saxman66 (Post 680342)

He told the purser my story, and after that I received the red carpet ride. She sat me up front in first and gave me the best service ever. :)

So you've got a thing for redheads, eh? :cool:

On a related note. Is St. Thomas USVI considered an international destination on AA? I've been told it is and we don't have the international J/S with them. I'm trying to string together my weekly commute starting in a few weeks out of BOS. Thanks in advance.