Problem with CASS photo not showing?
 

This past weekend I tried jumpseating from my hometown in Hawaii (visiting family and friends) to get back to work. My objective was to j/s from Kona to HNL where I could have a multitude of flights to try to get .

The problem unfolded when I tried to get cleared in CASS with Hawaiian Airlines. The agent said my photo was not showing with a message saying they were not authorized to view my photo and to contact my airline. I offered them to see my passport but the agent and her supervisor said they needed to see my photo in CASS to let me travel. The ruling: they weren't going to allow me to jumpseat.

It was 5:00 pm Hawaiian Standard Time, 10 pm Central... the only number I knew was crew scheduling. They had me call a base manager who was on call... he couldn't do anything for me that late in the evening but I explained that I was coming back from my designated moving days. He worked it out with scheduling and they put me on positive-space out of KOA on NWA to get back in time for work.

When I got to the mainland, I asked an agent to do me a favor and check CASS. She was able to pull me up with no problem. Later I also asked one of my buddies back home who works for Hawaiian as a gate agent to look me up... he did with no problems. My photo showed up with no problems.

My question is... what is the deal with the photo function in CASS? If the photo is not showing, should the gate agent keep trying and hope that eventually it will show? ... will it eventually show?

Thanks

I don't know enough about CASS to comment specifically on your case, but I have had problems in the past with the very same thing. In all instances, my company's CASS system was "down" which prohibited the verification process from taking place. Very frustrating when you're trying to get to work.

I have had this problem before at a couple of out stations. If they don't get your photo, they have no other way to verify you are in CASS. They can try again and again, but it has to show up. I had one gate agent tell me that they actually have 10 seconds to see the photo. If it doesn't show up by then, or if it shows after, it's an invalid photo and they try again.

However, I am surprised they wouldn't let you get on. Were there no open seats in the back? Each time they cleared me for a seat in the back (after verifying my employment), but informed me that I couldn't ride in the cockpit.

Not sure if that really helps. Sounds like you did all you could, and thankfully had a helpful gate agent.

I've had mixed luck on Hawaiian.. on their jumpseat form, they have a box for non-CASS aircrew. The only thing is, you can't ride in the cockpit. Last time I was in HNL, I had to go through two gate agents to finally get what I wanted.

It's a TSA program, so it's obviously very prone to failure.

Once, I had it show up as "approved" and only part of the photo showed up. The gate agent didn't press it because there was a seat in the back anyway. When I got to my destination, I asked another gate agent to check it and it was fine.

Your photo needs to show up for CASS. If you're an on-line employee, you can use another method of verification, but, since Hawaiian doesn't have any on-line affiliates' (like Hawaiian Express or something), you'll need to use CASS.

CASS is for flightdeck access only. It has ZERO to do with access to the cabin (unfortunately, there is confusion on this issue with both gate agents . . . and pilots). Think about it like a security issue: how much security do passengers go through to sit in the cabin - the same amount as a cabin jumpseater. They don't go through CASS, and you don't have to either (the PIC must verify and approve you, of course). To sit in the flightdeck, your ID must be verified by a known method (CASS or on-line access). Having your passport won't make a difference if there's no CASS photo.

The system goes down sometimes - it could be your airline, the airline you're trying to jumpseat on, or the AIRInc. server - or just one of those random 'computer' issues.