Thanks Xjt crew of 4636 for leaving us...
 

...behind with 9 open seats.
All other DCA flights cancelled and you left 6 hours late. 11 standbys that will probably have to drive.
I know you had a wheels up time to make but classy move nonetheless. We waited for 6 hours just to watch you leave empty. Off to rent a one way car for $100 + gas & tolls.

Sorry for the rant but that one stung a little.

They were 6 hours late and what happened?

Gate agent was busy rebooking passengers and decided she had no time to clear pass riders. They wanted to leave right away and opted to just leave us behind. Didn't clear one nonrev.

So you're blaming the flight crew and not the gate agent? I'm confused here...

Sounds like a gate agent issue.

Unless they saw you, or knew you were in there, I don't see how this is their issue?

In this case it was both. In my short eight years I've never seen this before. I couldn't believe it.

Poop happens, I see it all the time. If you absolutely have to be there, buy a ticket.

Just because it "happens all the time" doesn't mean it's right. There's no excuse for leaving with empty seats if there are fellow crewmembers trying to get on.

pass travel is a negotiated benefit.....

That's right! You guys want captain authority back with respect. Get up, tell that agent all pax get on or you don't go. Amazing how we can walk around and have agents talk down to us. I respect them and treat them right but no need for them to back down from pax. Thay say they don't have time. That's BS. If we get lazy on our job people get hurt. This crap needs to stop..no need to leave with open seats. Take charge!

Yup. This is one thing we have control over. Never leave your peers behind.

Of course we don't know the whole story but I'm sure he was juggling a lot between a wheels up and all the WX going on today. Sometimes when I have a lot going on I'll just ask the agent if we have everyone and I'll take their word for it.

I would never leave people behind with seats available on the plane. As the PIC I have delayed the flight on more than one occassion for this very reason. When asked for the reason for the delay, I put passenger boarding.

If the crew had empty seats and left knowing there were people at the gate trying to get home, they are Delta Bravo's in my opinion.

Don't give me that non-rev travel is a privilege B.S. either. A pilot or flight attendant trying to commute home after a 4 day deserves a bit of help from those that can make it happen.

There's always always going to be the exception. In the decade I've been commuting I've only had problems a handful of times, and only one was from flight crew. Most of the time the flight crews (thanks Skywest) go out of their way to help. My problems stem from gate agents. I have to say though, I wouldn't want their job. Some passengers will complain about the the littlest things in their quest to get travel vouchers. Most of them keep a diary of events to cover their a$$.

PICs have all the tools necessary to overrule a gate agent that won't accommodate NRSAs:

A parking brake.

Well, that and they also need a spine.

Was this a 50 seater? Where was the flight originating from? If it was going to DC with the weather and it was short hop, guaranteed that they were weight restricted, depending on alternate. If they could've taken and forgot or whatever the reason, it wouldn't be right. Just trying to figure out what happened.

I always walk up to the gate and check for crew when there's a debacle forming. On more than one occasion after discovering a js requesting pilot we've had to negotiate with the gate agent to put them on. Sucks, but you have to do it in order to take care of each other. Most pilots who have been commuters look out for other commuters.

Do you even know the crew knew non revs were there before placing blame?

Agreed! I do see there are exceptions.

on your smartphone look.... at the app, see the non revs....

Do you do this before every departure el Captian?

I find it extremely hard to believe that a one of our captain's left EWR (I'm assuming it was newark) KNOWING there was non rev's trying to get home. I've only been here a year and don't know all of them, but this just seems way out of character. I can say that I don't always know if there are JS or non rev's waiting at the gate unless I actually see them. If it's a keeper quick turn I rarely venture up the jetway. If the agent says that all of them, I assume they are telling the truth (which I think is correct assumption 98% of the time), close the door and get out...

If you know that the PIC knew you were there then your anger at the crew is certainly justified. I can say with confidence that the PIC's I have flown with thus far would not knowingly let this happen. Then again, they also don't always go searching for jumpseaters or do a computer search for pax loads either...

Not a Capt.... and usually don't have these issues.... however, as an idea... if one is advocating walking the jetbridge to do a sweep and clear of the gate for non-rev's/JS then, why not take 20s to check on your phone....

questions?

I do not have a pony in this argument, however I will say that in my tenure here I always make it a point to get off the plane and use the "big boys" room in the terminal! whomever designed the lav on this CRJ should be shot! at 6'2 its hard to **** sideways! At least you ERJ drivers can stand up in yours...Anyway, if I do not get off the front always asks if we have jumps or non-revs trying to get home. In this industry, yes, pass privileges are a privileges, however, with that said, it is not right to leave your fellow pilots behind. I don't care who you fly for, we are all human and have lives outside of this crappy industry. Just do whats right and help each other get home or to work. It's the least we can do for each other. And being that I am always on the little 700, if we have seats in first its yours! Enough said.

Yes. Captain knew. He came up looking for the gate agent that was MIA for a while because he wanted the door closed and we talked to him. That's the tough part to look past. It is what it is. No hard feelings. I couldn't do what he did but maybe he has his reasons.

yea, that's messed up..

Agreed! EVERYONE will need a ride at some point in his or her career so look out for your fellow pilots and help them get home to their families, as you would want them to do the same for you!

Seriously pathetic comments and logic :mad: ! As person who has been around / in this business a long time I cringe when I read this garbage! I will always do w/e I can to help fellow colleagues get home!

Thank you for the intellectually inferior comment.... Now, go away management pilot.......

I had to pay an enrollment fee for myself and members of my family for travel benefits. I realize jumpseating is different but I have to pay to enroll and it's up to the gate agent/captains discretion as to whether or not I'm entitled to a seat on a particular flight? It's kind of like having health insurance, I have to pay the premium but they get to decide if they are in the mood to allow me to use what I paid for? Am I understanding this correctly?

Umm hey i think when snarge said "pass travel is a negotiated benefit" you all are reading that wrong.. Pay is a negotiated benefit, and we all expect that to occur, do we not? So my interpretation of his post was that we should expect the pass travel benefit to be honored in much the same way. No need to slam the guy..

Interesting thread.. I was a paying pax on the flight. It was from DCA-EWR. I started at IAD then canned it to DCA after my IAD flight canx. Crew was aware of situation but was also concerned about making wheels up time. I feel for the guys.. Wait to take non revs then don't get to go because your missed your wheels up? Now everyone is screwed. Throw a main cabin door that is not indicating closed at pushback and you have a royal mess. I witnessed it all from 3A. My only Monday morning QB comment would be use the deadheading f/a and pilot to make sure they were processing nonrevs. Tough day for all.

Just remember we really don't have the "big picture". In recurrent last week my sim partner was talking about being called in to CP office because his Capt made the agent open the door to put some revenue pax on after he had been asked to leave early.Come to find out company was trying to get a late 757 into that gate. By the time agent open door ect ect you get the picture 80 connecting pax miss connections .Iv alway looked out for nonrevs but things are so complex now I suggest we be a little more careful. In the case of my sim partner above there was a flt to same city 2 hrs later.

At AE (and therefore AA, I imagine), we do not have the authority to force a gate agent to board anybody. The company has made it very clear that not only will the gate agent win the battle, but we will be held accountable by the chief pilot's office if we attempt that battle and cause a flight to be late. Written up. Letter put into your file, etc.

In this case, it seems that maybe there was a wheels up time to be made. It would be wrong to miss the wheels up time because one was diddling around trying to get non-revs aboard. It sucks to be them, but it would REALLY suck to be a paying pax and be delayed even further because we missed our wheels up time because the captain was trying to get more non-revs onboard.

I've commuted off and on for 22 years - and I do it now. Commuting can be perilous sometimes. It is what it is.

Sounds like it didn't happen this time, but it's not uncommon for ops to tell me I don't have any jumpseaters or non-revs and when I walk inside I find jumpseaters...

Uhhmm let's see, what is the metric for performance for a gate agent? On -time departures. I know at USAir they have a giant clock on their computer screens. Do you think a gate agent cares about you going home? No. Yup, that scenario has happend to me...but thankfully only about 5% of the time.

If the flight crew knew about you, well I'm guesing there was so much more going on behind the scenes then you could possibly know about( I hope)

Look at the bright side..you got to take a road trip, split the costs with many other stranded non-revs, and maybe you stopped at White Castle:D.

It happens

More than likely it was the last leg of a long and horrible 4 day and the crew just wanted to get home.

FWIW, a few months ago (IN DCA)my CA and I got a call from a Crew Tracker in EWR and requested we walk up to the jetway because a commuter was trying to get on the flight, to gate agent wouldn't let him down, even with the jetway attached. Long story short, we told OPS we weren't going anywhere without him, they yelled and screemed and refused to let him down. CA didnt care, we simply waited, EVENTUALLY they pulled the jetway back up. by the time we landed we had a visit by our CP (Who was and probably is the best CP I will ever have) just wanted to hear it from us because he got a call from some very important person who got a call from the miserable Gate agent. This might have something to do with it, lol

I'm not saying it was right or wrong. What I'm saying is sometimes poop happens, plain and simple. Non-revs were over looked in this situation, I can see it happening. The crew was obviously running late, could have been their last leg and they got busy. There's plenty to do in a quick turn and although non-revs is on the list, it may not be the top priority.

In this situation, from what I gather, it was the gate agent. They are the one responsible for clearing non-revs so that they board and not delay the flight any more. Obviously in this circumstance it didn't happen. Should the crew have gone up and demanded non-revs fill seats, sure, did it happen, no.

In all, being a commuter, I think the last thing I would have done as the original poster is throw up my arms and created a thread about a crew who didn't do their job. So I stand by my original post, poop happens.

Yep...what do you do if you don't have a smartphone?