Kenny Powers

Long time lurker, first time post....

So I work for a small Part 135 company that has a cabin-only jumpseat agreement (we are non-CASS) with Skywest. Most gate agents always seem to be bewildered by this anomaly and start to panic when they see I'm not CASS. They eventually figure it out....

So when I approached the agent this morning in MEM to get my seat assignment, I wasn't surprised that I ran into trouble. I had listed the night before on 800-UAL-LIST with no problem. However, when he tried to pull up my information, his computer was telling him that I needed a paper ticket to board and he couldn't let me on without one. I said, I'm an offline jumpseater and I had never been issued a paper ticket (besides prior to boarding) nor have I ever required one to jumpseat before. I pleaded my case but to no avail. Even asked for the supervisor but unfortunately that was he. So then I asked if I could speak to the Captain which he immediately denied me of doing so....

I had to get crafty here and fortunately for me there was a mainline United guy commuting to work who got a seat. He offered to grab the Captain once he got into the aircraft to tell her of my plight. So much to the dismay of the gate agent (he knew I went around his authority and he was ****ed!) up comes the Captain. With only 10 minutes until departure she immediately started making some phone calls to try and figure out how to get me on board. All the while, the gate agent kept bugging her that the flight was going to be late...she didn't seem to care what he said, she was going to get me on board the flight. After a little argument between her and the agent, he issued me a hand-written jumpseat request form and I was on my way to Chicago. The flight was nearly on time afterall...

I just want to give a shout out to Captain Kathy and FO Preston for going above and beyond the call of duty for not leaving me behind at the gate. You guys did a superb job! I wish more Captains would use the authority of their 4-stripes as Kathy did today. Thanks so much guys, keep up the good work!

That is all.

KP

Spoilers

Good Deal! I think that's why it's important that we check the gate area for jumpseaters that are trying to get on, because not all gate agents know the policies/procedures.

TonyWilliams

Kathy on a big, scary jet???? Glad to hear it worked for you.

de727ups

I had a similar situation once in LAS trying to get on an UAX EMB120 to PSP. The gate agent basically didn't know what he was doing and wasn't interested in finding someone that did. There were no pilots anywhere around and the agent wouldn't let me go down to speak with them.

I missed the flight but had four hours until the next one. I ended up going down to the ticket counter (past security) and plead my case to a gal working the counter. She did some magic on her computer and gave me a boarding pass like it was no big deal.

Moral of the story: When you run in to an uncooperative or clueless gate agent, don't get mad and don't give up. The OP did the right thing by tracking down the Captain. If that doesn't work, see if you give find another agent to work with.

FL450

Are you a K5 Jumpseater?

usmc-sgt

It is amazing how often us jumpseaters are denied being able to speak with the crew.

I have had many problems in the past for a variety of carriers and when you ask to see the CA the answer has been no every single time.

It should almost (within reason) be your right to request to speak with the crew if the agent has time to inform them. If the agent has time they should at least inform the crew of your intentions and let the CA make the decision whether or not to speak to the jumpseater, not the agents decision.

Back in the Eastern days my grandfather used to tell me the stories of how HE owned the jumpseat, PERIOD and there were no questions asked....those days are many years behind us, or at least coming up on 9 years behind us.

rickB

Very nice, always love a good story about ****ing off a gate agent over jumpseat issues, they are always so ignorant... Can't wait until I can do the same for a fellow pilot.

TonyWilliams

I was once in Pasco, Washington for a 6am jumpseat to work in SLC. The flight was full, but this gate agent actually let the plane depart with an empty jumpseat (my company's plane, my company's gate agent).

Ok, not a huge deal, another plane in a few hours. So, I could tell that things were going to be squirrelly for this flight, too, as it was oversold.

So, I called crew scheduling and told them the story so far, and that if this gate agent didn't let me on this plane, I might not make it to work. Then I asked them to call the plane (ACARS or cell phone to pilot) and tell them that I was waiting to get on board.

It worked out, but literally at the very last minute. Crew scheduling called the gate and told them I should be put on board.

I filed a complaint with the company over this gate agent, and the response was that this had happened before and that it would be dealt with.

captain152

Kudos to the CA!!! I always come back to the gate in IAD to check for nonrev's/JS ... I've told the gate agent on more than one occasion to figure it out because the flight wasn't leaving without them!

sinsilvia666

good stuff, no pilots left behind ! always !