It was a game changer when it came out. That and the jumpseat finder on the ALPA app are an awesome pair for commuting.

 

Did someone make your eggs a little too salty this morning gramps? If we’re going to keep our current system (until at least the “seniority is everything” crowd retires) how about you have a little more respect for your coworkers and list for flights you think you’ll probably make. Nothing worse than being on the employee bus when the 1990 hire shows up on the jumpseat list. I’m just glad I don’t commute anymore.

 

The problem is you don't even know the day before that you need to buy a ticket because you have no idea whether you would get the jumpseat yet or not unless a senior guy happened to list for it in advance. Either opinion is valid, but this is a very poor "solution." Your proposal would actually be much more applicable to a jumpseat system based on reservable jumpseats.

 

I think there should be a 30 minute cutoff but outside of that seniority rules just like for everything else.

 

Thanks! Seems like last time I looked into the app it required a Facebook account, which I don’t have. Thanks for sharing the info👍🏼

 

(until at least the “seniority is everything” crowd retires)

once they all retire and you are finally senior I'll bet you won't be so interested in giving up priority based on seniority.

 

I find it interesting that self serving people always assume everyone else is going to be self serving too. It's as if thinking about and looking out for others or improving broken systems never occurs to them.

Until I'm #1 on the list, there's always a chance someone will beat me to the jump seat at the last minute. I would much rather know a week in advance if I will make the jumpseat or if I need to buy a ticket or if I should look at another flight. Stability. Predictability. Situational awareness. The ability to plan ahead. These aren't new or novel concepts. Is anyone really going to say logging onto a website 30 mins-7 days before departure is that difficult? Hell if all you care about is ****ting on the newer hires, then add in a timer function where if a junior pilot bids on a jump seat, a senior pilot has x many hours to trump that. Or give pilots X many jump seat points to bid on a trip per year. Want to blow them all on a really important trip? Go for it. if you don't need the jump seat then don't bid as much. There are better solutions than just showing up to the gate with very little information and hoping for the best.

 

I can only speak to my own commuting reality, but does this scenario that you speak of, relative to all of your commutes, happen often? I think I’ve seen it once, where I’m actually planning on the JS and someone comes in under an hour to take my seat.

 

That’s when a real Captain says..”no, it’s actually mine and you’re not on it”

 

You are entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to my own. I agree that seniority is the system this industry was built on and it should have its perks. But I don’t agree with the attitude of I ate a sh!t sandwich so everyone behind me should too. That sh!t sandwich sure will taste good when you’ve been here for 20+ years.

When it takes 30 seconds to pull out your phone and list for a jumpseat and there is an abundance of technology out there that can implement seniority driven solutions like BlueScholar mentioned, there’s no reason why someone junior to you should drag themselves to the airport just to get bumped at the last second with limited options to get to where they need to go. Sure, buy a ticket, but that’s not going to happen when double digit seniority guy shows up to the podium 10 minutes before the flight.

This attitude is also why we still lag behind our peers with QWL provisions and the company able to work us into our days off. I am in no way trying to weasel my way around seniority, but there are a lot of things out there that we don’t have and won’t get because “that’s the way it’s always been.”