Turn in the old phone along with your parachute pants and get one.

Don't be dissing his jitterbug.

http://easylivingprogram.vestaforyou...cell_phone.jpg

Do what we've done for the past 80 years.... walk to the terminal and check .... the smartphone was the alternative to the original premise...
If you were an adult before the commonality of the smartphone... what did you do?

I'll take more questions but none at this level.... next?

That's right :D

Did they know you were there? Maybe they had a time to make getting out of DCA up to EWR? You do realize that flight is really time sensitive correct? Did you stand in the window and try to get their attention? Im just not seeing how you can blame our crews for your misfortune, you go on as far to imply that it was their fault for being late. If you REALLY are a non-rev then I would think you'd have some experience, but maybe you are one of those entitled non-revs who feels that they are everybody's #1 priority and entitled to a seat on every flight.

@ mking84, how about you read the WHOLE thread and not just page one and then skip to the end. Do you do the same with your contract, read the cover page then skip straight to compensation?

gotta be the exception i commute and i go outta my way to get people on including moving bags in the back or whatever i gotta do. the same has been done for me across everyone ive ever flown on including mainline

It is what it is - and what it is is voluntarily allowing PIC authority to be undermined.

Try this next time:

If every AE Captain lives by this philosophy too, commuting might be more pleasant, and less 'perilous'. So might your Chief Pilot's office.

Isn't having things like this just part of the job? Commuting has its dangers and this is one of them. Just part of paying your dues or the job in my opinion. Getting screwed by the gate agent and other crews is what happens when you have an industry that puts more priority on what the customers want than whats good for the crews. So if you don't like it, find another job where you don't have to worry bout getting hosed trying to get home.

I would say getting left behind commuting due to a full flight or a weight restriction is a danger of commuting. Not showing up to a flight with 9 open seats and getting stuck.

Oh okay, I'll just find another job. I never thought of that, thanks! Boy this free market stuff is AWESOME. BTW, it's not a free market when labor cannot strike.

And yes, that was a period at the end of that sentence.

Let the thread tangent explode.

One more thing, your opinion is like everybody's anus. We all have them and yours especially wreaks.

So let me get this straight. Someone post a thread complaining about getting left behind on their commute and we are supposed to jump on the lets attack the crew for doing that? Tell me how many times the average person gets in their car and drives home from work only to get stuck in gridlock after an accident happens? Do you see them posting a thread somewhere about it? Nope. And if they did I would still say its weak. How many times has anyone commuting had their commute stretched out to 2-3X its normal length because of a missed jumpseat or some other crap(ie, gate agent). Honestly, its part of the industry either accept it or find another job where you don't have to hop on a plane to get home.

And yes its a free market and some other SJS kid will take your place. These are the facts. Enjoy the industry you voluntarily joined!

Bottom line...I delay my flight to get you on.

You delay your flight to get me on.

This industry is only tolerable if we help each other out.

These are the facts. Still not a free market. Nice try though.

You're clearly not a commuter.

BTW, I don't have SJS...I fly the mightiest Beech on the planet. Not a whole lot of people lining up for that.

While I think it is a bit aggressive to start a thread and blame the crew, this topic is one that needs to be addressed. In the end of the day, no one knows what is happening up front unless your mic'd up and there. Who knows what actually happened.

But... I will say there is a defined difference between commuting captains and non commuting captains. I've had captains bend over backwards to help me get to work/go home, and I've had other crew that really could have cared less whether I got on or not. I have a two leg commute and let me tell you, the joys of trying to make two gate agents understand how important it is to get me on is exhausting. I do it 16-20 times per month depending on my schedule.

THANK YOU to all who "never leave a man behind... And make the walk." I put those ALPA slogan Jumpseat committee stickers everywhere I could. I don't care who you are, company guy or not, commuters stick together and please don't insult us by trying to say jump seating is a negotiated benefit, or that commuting is risky. Yes it's risky, but one of those risks should not include an oblivious/indifferent crew. If I fly with a captain that doesn't really care, I myself check and make sure we are getting on any commuters.

Lets stick together.

Commuters unite.

Buy them a box of chocolates ;) works for me lol

I'm not sure how it works at your company but at my company we usually use email or cell phones to contact the ALPA Professional Standards and Jump Seat committees. Anonymous message boards are nearly as effective at solving problems as a bat signal.

With 6 hrs at the gate, that is more then enough time for the gate agent to get the n/r on. There has to be more to the story because we all do whatever we can to get everyone on.

What if they missed a wheels up time and then timed out while trying to get the non-revs on? I agree it sucks but if faced with that choice and a hostile gate agent, what is the crew to do? The Captain can control the jumpseat but not the seats in the back. On a clear blue day with all the time in the world then yes I would agree. It sounds like there were a lot of factors in play in this situation.

I was faced with a similar situation once but with a very nice gate agent. She got the non-revs on then seated them in the computer after we pushed (at least that is what she was going to do).

You probably don't have SJS, but there are plenty that do and will sit in your rightseat for free if given the opportunity. Besides your only setting yourself up for disappointment by expecting people to do something you'd do. This industry eats its young...

And please folks give up on the "We got to stick together", that went out the window a long time ago. If that was the case you'd all stay home and not fly that +70 seater for chump change if you really wanted to support each other. Maybe if people did wages would go up.

As a non-airline professional pilot, who buys tickets to get somewhere on business or personal, I'm pretty sure the pax and management may ultimately have a say in that. The airline business isn't run for the benefit of commuting employees

GF

Give up? do you commute? its because of attitudes like yours that we cant have nice things. this isn't a black and white issue. My job is my income, and if I rage a fit outside my headquarters guess what...I ain't getting a raise. I don't blame my fellow pilots industry wide for the pay problem, it is far more complex then that. Commuters are a special breed and I will fight for them always. We do stick together whether you like it or not. Plus, some of us need to commute to work in order to....work. and vice versa to get home.


Sorry galaxy flyer, you don't have a say in that. While the industry isn't run FOR commuting airline employees....it is run BY commuting airline employees.

Thank you to all those crews who got me on last second, and gate agents who have reopened gates and one time let me out on to the ramp with the jetbridge pulled back already in order to make it to work or go home.

Sorry, peoplemover90, but the airline run by commuting employees starts becoming unreliable, pax will get a say in things by not buying tickets.

BTW, the airline I flew for went out of business due to their unreliability--EAL.

GF

Let me clarify, I go out of my way for non-rev's and wouldn't delay a flight just for a non-rev's connection, showing up to the gate late, etc. BUT, if there's a gate agent that isn't doing their job, I'm not leaving until we can take everybody we can take. Period.

You think commuting is a benefit?

People buy airline tix for reliability? Wrong, you have a corporate job BECAUSE the airlines are unreliable.

People buy airline tix because they're cheap.

Unreliability due to the IAM strike?

Airlines are so overblocked these days, a 5 minute delay leaving the gate to board a late pax or *gasp* a commuting pilot is EASILY absorbed with a resultant on-time arrival at destination.

As a bizav pilot sitting in the back on a full-fare ticket many times, I've no problem with the captain making a PA saying "We'll be a couple minutes late so we can fill the airplane up."

Fuggedit...

Al,

We have a contractor for that, nice try, tho.

GF

Just commenting that a 121 guy may not know the ins and outs of a 91 guy....and vice versa.

Very true, Al. Both groups make assumptions that aren't warranted.

GF

After a 6 hour delay reliability is out the window. Your everyday pax doesn't give a rat's asz about reliability. They care about paying $1 less than the next carrier will do it for. Your sentiments about commuting employees is misguided, much like most of your posts.

I've delayed a flight for a commuting pilot more than a few times..

Haha captain tells me "go in the box and put in a push delay.. For reason put 'waited for commuter. Sue us.'"

I respect your opinion but I truly believe Spirit has proven you wrong. They cattle car and nickle and dime the passenger but they are at a 10%+ profit margin. Remember the outrage over them charging for overhead space? Bookings increased that month due to the news coverage. They don't deny the poor treatment but instead flaunt the price. People care about price and nothing else right now. Inconvenient, delayed, and a constant hassle is the New norm. They can schedule 10 more arrivals than the tower can handle per hour and we can hold a plane for a peer.

Captain authority! Thanks...the commuters appreciate it.

If I knew a whiner like you was sitting at the gate I would go out of my way to make sure you got left behind hahhahaha

Thanks Xjt crew of 4636 for leaving us...
 

In before the lock

I'm a whiner? Well, they would revoke my ATP if I didn't complain a certain amount during each trip...

UH OH!!! Those four magic words...it's been fun!

Cant believe this thread has lasted. please kill it

A captain that knowingly leaves behind commuters is spineless and selfish. Grow a pair or stay in the right seat. Making decisions that might get questioned through an ACARS message is part of the job. There are a million and one excuses for a 5 minute delay. Pick one and type away. The person you did it for will be very grateful.

Truth is people make the choice to commute, sometimes they just don't make it on the flight. I do all that I can to get everyone on board but I don't weep for the choices people make. You can justify it all you want but at the end of the day people make the choice to commute instead of putting the for sale sign in front of their house. Commuters don't deserve any better treatment than anybody else