Make The Walk
 

Just a friendly reminder for those of you who don't commute and for some reason aren't aware:

Take a moment off your life to walk up to the gate and see what's going on with your cockpit nonrevs about ten minutes before close. Lest you leave with two RJ pilots in your cockpit while a United Airlines pilot is left behind because you were too busy or lazy to make a decision or worry about anything other than yourself.

Maybe they were worrying about an Mel issue, or a wx issue, or so other issue. How far ahead of the flight did you check in with the gate agent? I am a former commuter and do everything I can to make sure jumpseaters are taken care of including making the walk when there is time and checking employee res. I do know that calling your fellow pilots lazy or self absorbed will most likely not help your cause.

If you are a United pilot and you have checked in for the jumpseat, then you should have been given a JS/CASS card. That allows you to go down jetway and talk to the crew.
You are supposed to be given the JS card when it is printed. If you were not given the JS card, then make sure you ask the CS agent for it. If they refuse to give it to you, ask them to call for a supervisor. If they refuse to let you down the jetway, ask them to call for a supervisor.
If you are at a hub, you can contact the CPO and get them to help you.
If all of this fails, be sure to get the name of the CS agent and submit a JSAP.
I'm assuming you did all of this.
Yes, it would be great if everybody had the time and the inclination to make the walk. I'm a commuter too, and I know how important it is. In the meantime, we need to make sure that as individual jumpseaters, we hold the CS agents to their responsibilities as well.

Hog

90% + don't follow the procedure and just "do what they have always done."
Every time I talk to a supervisor they promise to make sure they follow policy next time. Nothing changes "next time" and the process repeats itself.

I just j/s on you guys from overseas. Can't tell you how great it was.

Met the crew at the gate and the captain tried to get the agent to let me down with them. Didn't work, but very thoughtful. He told me to get out of the uniform and relax.

He came back to the gate during the boarding process to check and see how things were going and promised me a "big" seat. Finally got a seat from the agent in coach. As soon as I got on the jet, one of the FAs grabbed me and took me to the front over the protest of the gate agent.

Captain came down and greeted me again once seated.

I understand, and agree (although I'm not seeing it at 90%). I try to make the walk when/if I can, and I advocate the same for everybody I fly with. Having said that, we still need every pilot who is adversely affected to stand up for their contractual/policy rights, and submit JSAPs to document the issues.
If you are an offline jumpseater and you run into an issue, please contact your JS rep, or send an email to our JS rep. They need all of the ammunition they can get in order to get this situation corrected.
If it's not documented, it didn't happen.

Hog

Agreed GH.......

Nice the "friendly" reminder, I really like the too busy, lazy, and worry only about yourself part. Thanks for that friendly reminder. lol

So.. as a guy who doesn't commute and does mostly International flying, got a question-
Do jumpseaters show up on the United App under Standby? I ask this as that is the usual place I look to see if/how many non revs are trying to get onboard.

If not... maybe it's something they can put into the Pilot Mobile App.. to see if you have jumpseaters listed. Would help (in my opinion) when you aren't able/or forget to Make The Walk.

Happy L Day~
Always
Motch

I try my best to check employee res on most flights to check if its full and be on the look out for JS. I believe that a JS will show up on the app, but only until the JS card is issued. I think when the agent lists the JS, it shows on the app but then at some point the name will drop off the list on the app. Now if it is a ual pilot or express pilot, you will often see the name twice, and that is a pass listing and a JS listing.

I sure hope that next time I dont get the opportunity to check it I dont get accused of being lazy or self absorbed.

I was non-revving and saw a friend of mine from Jet Blue listed as a JS, so yes, they show.

He was surprised to see me....I said I knew you would be there.

Really, four minutes out of our scripted, controlled, and at times boring work life to walk up to the gate and back is that difficult? Think how you'll feel when you discover a commuting pilot being detained and the look on the agent's face when they are professionally encountered.

I brief gate agents we will close 3 minutes prior to push unless the cargo doors are closed early. We aren't faster than the cargo doors, so no point in closing the main cabin door ten minutes prior to push. I tell them to put it on me if they feel they need to,otherwise put it on cargo.

Nothing about this reminder is friendly. It is insulting.
Thanks for reminding me how selfish I am. And God forbid someone lets that RJ trash on his airplane....

I do get busy sometimes, and appreciated the cordial reminder. :D

Why to show the "RJ trash" how a real professional behaves.:rolleyes:

That's fine. No need to call the rest of us lazy and self-centered.

Check your reading comprehension. It wasn't meant to insult anybody other than the guy that did it. It was meant to be a reminder of the importance of making the walk.

Pretty sad post there. Many of us were "RJ Trash". When I left the military it was ugly and "RJ trash" was the only gig. It didn't last long for me "I was extremely lucky" but I dont forget what it's like waiting for the call. I try to make sure I never push with an empty seat unless my FO or I have made the walk. It's just common courtesy. That "RJ trash" may be the ride you or your family needs some day. Would you have the balls to call them trash when asking for an OMC?

Wow. Settle down. Take your blood pressure meds. I was VERY much joking. Tongue in cheek. Sarcasm. Making fun of the OPs post.

Jeepers.

Reading comprehension checked. Nowhere here do you indicate one individual. Instead you implicate all non-commuters.

If at the end of the last sentence you wrote, "...like the captain today did," then you would be inferring something different.

Sorry if you were indeed joking. It didn't come across that way in your post. It just gets under my skin when people put down other professional pilots because they weren't lucky to have the right timing and/or the good fortune to get to their dream job right off the bat. I used to commute for years on UEX and they took great care to make sure I always got on if at all possible. I remember what life was like as a commuter and try to help out whenver I can.

That's nice of you. I've got 7 years "RJ Trash" time under my belt.