Spirit Jumpseat question
 

Hello,

Do your 320s have 2 jumpseats? When I called to list the agent said there was only one..

Do you still allow offline pilots to sit in a flight attendant jumpseat?

Thank you!

Only one on the 320's. The 320's also have no xtra FA Jumpseat, but offline can ride on an FA Jumpseat on the 319 and 321.

All of our 320's have just one jumpseat. And we carry 4 flight attendants so all of the FA jumpseats are full. We always have no show pax so you still have a chance. Good luck.

How does spirit deal pilots whose airline does not have a recip, but is CASS approved?

Good luck jumpseating on them if you don't get yourself listed ahead of time. Expect 4 confused gate agents, a supervisor or two, and at least an hour for them to figure out how to list you at the gate.

This.

I feel like I show up and this is the first time theyve ever encountered a jumpseater.

Unreal

Or you can put your big boy pants on and call in advance to list like the rest of us (employees included). Look- it is what it is. The CSAs are usually overworked, undertrained and short-handed; if that's going to make your panties wad up then maybe you should make your way down to the Delta gate. If you don't call ahead then the agents may be hard-pressed to get you listed; I haven't heard of anyone getting left at the gate in a long time but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen. Bottom line: it may be a pain in the ass but you'll get listed and get a ride. Isn't that what you showed up for? Does Spirit owe you anything more? And if you turn out to be the unlucky statistic that does get stuck at the gate because you couldn't get listed then make sure your (and our) jumpseat coordinator know.

On the other hand, if you can follow a simple request like a preferred listing by phone (on the ALPA site as well as on airlinepilotcentral.com Spirit page) then I doubt you'll have much trouble.

And when all else fails- seek out a uniformed crew member.

NK has treated me wonderfully commuting to/from ORD over the last couple of years. Gate agents and flt crews are both exceptionally courteous. Thank you Spirit.

I agree , Thank You !

And now, the award for most unnecessarily harsh response goes to...

I remember years back getting a ride was as easy as going to operations,
metting the captain and asking him for a ride. And you were treated real well. The captain would even call oparations to ask for an extra crew meal.

All right lolwut and astec-- if I'm being called out by our own NK web forum sensitivity dept. then I must be out of line.

I don't do group hugs very well and call things like I see them...and I saw both your comments as a product of this BS "entitlement" movement that is cancerously spreading throughout our country. Look, if you go through the drive thru at McDonald's and pull away without checking the bag first then it's your own damn fault for having an expectation that the apathetic minimum wage kid at the window will give a crap if the stuff his buddy shoved in the bag is correct or not.

So what's the best solution? Knowing what I'm getting into when I pull up to McDonald's of course! And just like I'll check my bag before pulling away, you should be aware that there is a procedure in place for you to get through the process easier if you jumpseat on NK. Now, it's not required- but it sure can make it easier for you and that minimum wage kid that just got recruited away from McDonald's.

Likewise- you should expect to get on the airplane if you show up within 30 minutes of departure and the jumpseat is available. But an expectation level of anything more? Sorry dude, check it at the door. Most understand what Spirit does by now- offers basic transportation at a rock-bottom price. So why are you expecting anything other than the seat? That was the point of my question asking what Spirit owes you.

Next time you get on come on up and I'll welcome you aboard just like I do all the other guys/gals that catch rides on us. Glad to have you and glad we can reciprocate since I've been a commuter myself for over 10 years. I'll make sure you have somewhere to stow your bag and do my part to ensure you get the best seat possible (even if it's up front with us--sometimes it is). I'll even offer you one or two of my bottles of water. But please- don't give me an earful of how you had to wait in line 20 minutes with all those lowly passengers before you got to board.

Man hugs all around.

The reason I thought it was harsh is that commuting is a be-acth. Sometimes you get bumped and can't get to option B with 30 min left. In that case, there are helpful agents and unhelpful agents. Many of ours have a hard time processing a JS at the gate during a no-load, no-pressure situation (or worse yet, don't want to be bothered). The next OAL JS you ask for may be from a crew that just got the NK agent apathy dance watching several empty seats push away from the gate and an extra 2 hour sit waiting for the next flight to think about it. If you have the option, by all means, list in advance; if you can't, good luck finding the agent that doesn't mind doing their job - and yes, processing JS is part of the job.

Exactly.

We're growing (hiring new agents), and being 'cost conscious', we don't exactly attract valedictorians for gate agents - both conspire to create a situation where the agent isn't well versed or motivated for our jumpseat requests.

All that being said, if there's a seat, almost all the pilots here will get you on.

For those of you in CASS but not on our reciprocal list, get your Jumpseat chair to contact ours. We take just about anyone, and offer the FA Jumpseat to off-line pilots too (I think we're the only scheduled carrier who does that now that JetBlue stopped doing it).

And, no fees to use us as a jumpseater either (stop by the flight deck to make sure you get a water before departure, just in case).