501D22G

You must be in CASS. IFL accepts ANY company for JS but also reciprocates with a few companies with which it has reciprocating agreements. What does this mean? Allow me to explain with 2 examples.

silly examples:
scenario 1) IFL has a recip agreement with TWA. IFL crewmember can ride on TWA and TWA crewmember can ride on IFL.

scenario 2) IFL does not have a recip with Braniff. IFL crewmembers wanting to ride on Braniff will be shunned. But if a Braniff crewmember wants to j/s, they are welcome to ride.

IFL is in a reciprocating pickle as I'll get to eventually.

Here's the rub:

Most/many IFL destinations are of an ad-hoc/charter nature, so you wouldn't know where airplanes are going until right before departure.

More rub:

Many legs are international. The only supernumerary seats on IFL aircraft at this moment are in the cockpit. So even on the Monday thru Friday flight from MIA-CUN, yes there is 1 seat in the cockpit, but you can't sit in it because it's an international flight.

Aircraft jumpseats:

Falcon 20: 1 cockpit j/s
Convair 580/5800: 1 cockpit j/s
Boeing 727-200: 2 cockpit j/s
[CRJ-200 (not online yet)] 1 cockpit j/s, 1 additional j/s outside cockpit

So if you happen to be in LRD, and a 727 is on a charter to FWA, and you want to go to Fort Wayne, yes you can ride.

If you want to ride the Falcon feeders from TVF to SDF or TVF to MEM or back the other way, yes you can ride.

If a ELP-YIP charter suddenly turns into a ELP-CYHM, you can't ride. If a LRD-FWA turns into a MFE-IND, well, it is likely you are now very inconvenienced, but you can still ride (if either or both of those airports work for you).

So, long story short, yes, it is very possible to j/s on IFL, it just might be difficult to work out the logistics.

Due to the nature of the manufacturing supply chain / emergency logistics business, the fact that IFL must please the paying customer first, including if it involves changing pick-up/drop-off airports and/or timing of the trip, limited scheduled domestic destinations, and the no cockpit j/s / int'l TSA issue, IFL has a really hard time reciprocating, which is why it has a very short list of airlines willing to enter into such agreements with IFL, (and since they are not likely to gain much of anything for their crewmembers, who can blame them?)

If it is a domestic flight, and say you are just looking at the novelty/nostalgia factor of riding some of the best 3-holers still flying, or, enjoy wintering in Thief River Falls, MN, or don't care what you ride, where you go and when you actually get there (freight dog hurry-up & wait SOP) then by all means try to make it happen.

On the flip side, I personally would not rely on IFL j/s to get to/from work without several backup plans and extra time padded in.

Unless you work for Fedex or UPS and live in Thief River Falls, MN. Then you have a pretty easy commute to work.

Your best bet for charter aircraft is to bump into a crew at the departure airport as they are flight planning/loading, etc, with about an hour notice. They can call dispatch and get you on. Or call 248 6six6 nine713 option 5 to talk to a dispatcher. Tell them who you are, who you work for, where you are, and where you'd like to go. Maybe they have somewhere new & exotic you can ride to on a charter that they literally just booked.

If it's the domestic Falcon feeder stuff you probably already know what's going on enough with that schedule to make it happen. Talk to crew or call dispatch.

I'm sure this was as clear as mud but I hope this helps.