One work-around that has worked for me... List for the NEXT FLL-LGA flight, then have the gate agent use that record and roll you to the current flight. As long as the agent has a record created that they can work with, they should be able to get you on.

 

I love all these guys who are like well if your late your late. In my opinion if the door is open then the gate has time to get you on. Where I work we have done this for probably every airline out there. If you commute you know what it's like to be running your ass off to try and make it home, possibly on the last flight of the day. It literally takes the gate 2-3 minuets to check CASS and get you on. If it is ten minuets prior to departure and they are still dealing with revenue passengers for that flight, then that flight is not going out on time anyways. It comes down to pure laziness and power. I have had Captains that have told gate agents that they would not block out until the jump seater was on; and guess what all of a sudden they get in done in seconds and you are out on time with minuets to spare. If the gate would have done it to begin with 5 or 10 minuets earlier it wouldn't have even been an issue. And for those of you who are like hey thats tough, shame on you. We are all in an industry where we are away enough as it is. We may not all see eye to eye on many issues but we should all be sympathetic to those who are just trying to get to and from work. I think we can all do a better job making sure that our fellow pilots get in our empty seats.

 

Don't see them bringing coffee to the crew on board when non revving.

 

Being a gate agent myself at one time.. I would load a CLT airplane in some random express airport, I would check the gate area before boarding and would ask if their on the non-rev list.. I don't list you on the non-rev list. There is required training the flight crew does so that they are familiar with these procedures. List either online or at the ticket counter before the gate. Also check yourself in, online or the ticket counter, it helps the process. I usually would clear my non-revs at 30 minutes prior no matter what. Checkin ends at 30 and my list is process by 29. If the flight checks in full. I will try to get whomever is at the gate on. I will coordinate with the flight crew to see if it is feasible. Usually they will run the numbers after boarding too if they think they can get them on. If

Word of advice. The gate agents job is fun but stressful. So if you want to make it... Walk my resume into the chief pilots office and I will get you on. If you make my flight late for any reason, don't except a seat on less its booked light. Just be thankful for gate agents, because if you cancel due to something other then weather or maintenance, then you rebook all passengers.

Hope this helps. I'm glad it was a past job though.

 

We'd all like to see it, but the consumer has spoken. Cheap, make it cheap. They'll click on the lowest cost ticket almost every time, driving margins down. Companies respond with reduced service, reduced staffing, and this has trickled into non-revving as well.

Another problem is performance pay for agents. If they make more $$ by getting a flight out on time, then jump-seaters are going to take a back seat to that.

 

It's easy to rag on the gate agents. I'll agree some of them are horrendous AND rude. However, did you ever stop to think how they're treated by some JSers?

I was a gate agent for a very short time at EWR. I'll never forget this one TOTD who walked up to me and snarled how he was tired, just got off a long flight from (insert international city here) and had better get a JS on this flight to MCO or he was "going to kill somebody."

 

As CA I always preflight my jumpseat with a walk to the gate area to check for jumpseaters. Most of our agents have come to know me over the decades, and know enough to put them all on. They learn quickly that my plane isn't leaving folks behind.

These gate agent power trip stories are funny. They can't have one, unless you as PIC let them. Heck, even my FO's know to hold the flight if I'm not right there to do it until the folks get on. If I'm out grabbing the crew lunch, I expect my FO to be in charge in my absence and make sure they get on.

If more of us did this, eventually we'd stop hearing about the evil gate agent that screwed me this one time......

 

Well....I mean...not saying anything but that doesn't sound that bad. Bro was just tired.

....now normal pax on the other hand.... I don't know how gate agents keep their cool.

 

Oh, I get it...."bro" being tired gives him a pass to be rude and unprofessional. If a tired gate agent, FA or passenger used the "I'm gonna kill someone" if I don't get on this flight line would they get a pass as well?

 

Exactly, do your fricken job. I never understood these guys that bake cookies or spend hard earned money to get a coffee for these lazy disgruntled people. I think it's a culture problem with the gate agents where they don't respect anything not least of which are flight crew.