Tuck

Captains - Do you think we have a completely different culture here at Fedex regarding J/S? I wonder about it - I've flown with Captains that have commented to me, after meeting the jumpseaters at the desk in Memphis, "did you see what that guy was wearing? I don't know about him on the jumpseat" (he was wearing jeans) - heard that more than once. In talking with friends at other pax airlines I don't think it's anywhere as big a deal as it is here. Is it because as Captains, you get so many less decision making possibilities here than at a pax carrier and jumpseats is one of the few? I'm not trying to throw stones here - seriously just asking. Maybe the times I've seen and heard about it are outliers but I'm really surprised.

TonyC

Is that the Black & Decker league?






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Adlerdriver

No, I don't. Not if the reason is because they don't want to be inconvenienced by a few extra bodies on their aircraft.
Now, if you want to lump such a decision in with the tools like the Delta guy you mentioned or the pansy who can't take a check ride with a j/s on board, fine. Trying to claim it's the result of reason, experience and judgment is a joke.

Never said it was. There's plenty of reasons you don't get one. I've been denied for lots of reasons: by someone senior to me when I was at another airline, I wasn't first in the "first come/first served" ranking, W&B issues, MEL on the j/s to name a few. Bottom line is, if the j/s is available and there's someone who wants to ride it, it should never leave empty. Period. Dot.

I couldn't even begin to know what this even means.

MaydayMark

Well ... because Tuck asked ...

At a previous pax carrier I was often impressed with the authority given to the Captain. This airline had grown up at a time when it wasn't easy to coordinate a 'cell phone call to mommy' for authority to do anything. Accordingly, it was the Captain's responsibility to make well thought out and responsible decisions. If the Capt. said it, you could expect it to happen.

Now back to the thread topic ... jumpseats. Recently, due to a Global Travel admin problem I found myself at the Taipai Airport expecting to deadhead to HKG. It turned out that my reservation had been canceled and all flights to HKG were sold out. After a discussion with the Duty Officer I decided I'd try to jumpseat to HKG. The next flight was on Cathay.

I walked to the Cathay ticket counter and asked the nice ladies if we had jumpseat privileges with Cathay. They explained that we did but that since the flight was oversold it was likely the j/s would be filled with higher priority company employees. As I proceeded through the terminal I passed a Cathay Captain. I introduced myself and asked if he was flying to Hong Kong. He was ... as we walked past the ticket counter he advised the ticket agents to put me on the jumpseat. They explained to him that the flight was oversold and advised him that I would likely be bumped by company employees.

His reply ... "My airplane, my jumpseats ... I say who goes ... he goes." He then turned and walked away.

It made me miss the 'good ole days' at that once great airline ... So, maybe Tuck's correct? Maybe this whole j/s discussion is really a discussion about one of the few things a FDX Capt. actually has the authority to refuse?

Gunpig

WOW. I'd like to see how your attitude might change if you miss a revenue flight or worse get disciplined for doing so the airline life for a majority of pilots is that of a commuter & anyone in this career field should show A LOT of empathy for those in need of a lift...regardless of the personal discomfort

Huck

I've been a commuter for 20 years at three carriers.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same scenario here. And we don't know what happened.

Did the jumper email the captain a week before the flight and get told, "We've got two already, better find another ride"?

Or did the captain refuse the jumper the day of the flight and cause a no show?

I'm on record already here - I wouldn't turn a guy down if there was a seat. But if we got a week I might ask him so see if there's another way.

Adlerdriver

I was going to let this go but I guess I can't help myself.

Huck, this is only marginally less crappy than stiffing the guy in ops with no warning. Other than "You're welcome to ride", the only thing that might be acceptable in your scenario would be "We've already got 2 and you're more than welcome. Perhaps you might want to see if there are other options that might be more comfortable for everyone involved and use us as a backup." As a long time commuter, you must know what a crap shoot the pax jumpseats are even domestically and you're going to ask one of our guys to try to make that happen internationally? (most likely when he's on a schedule?)

Don't you think if a FedEx pilot is trying to jumpseat somewhere far enough away that it needs a heavy crew in a 777 and he had "another ride" he would have taken that? The 777 is nice and all but if it was that or use my bank to get a first/business class seat on a pax carrier, I wouldn't be jumpseating on FedEx. It's not like we've got multiple departures every day to the same far away city, so "another ride" is asking a lot when the guy's own airline has one if it's own jets going where he wants to be. UFB!!


Yeah. I'm not sure being "on record" with this plan of action is something I'd be advertising too much.

Sniper

You were in the flight deck and didn't have a ticket (zed fare, full fare, whatever)? Just wondering about how long ago this was: within the past 5 years, or longer?

I too can't believe there's not enough room for 4 Fed Ex jumpseating pilots on a Fed Ex plane with 4 seats and 2 bunks in the back, no matter the leg length. Not trying to add more fuel to the fire, but the guys who would 'deny for comfort' - this is so rare in the pax world, I wonder, do any of them have pax backgrounds, or did they 'grow up' in the Fed Ex culture, where perhaps sacrificing comfort is not as much of a 'social norm'?

For the guys advocating an 'any open seat should be filled' policy - if there's an open seat, do you try to accommodate anyone, no matter the loss of comfort, or just any pilot (always subject to PIC discretion, of course)?

Dahlysia

I had been a commuter for many years. Often having to jumpseat on American's MD-80 or Southwest aircraft. The cabin space was so tight we were almost on top of each other. I NEVER had a crew denied a jumpseat because comfort issues. As a FedEX captain I will never leave any jumpseater as long as there is a seat available. Enough said....

ol'tigerguy

"As a FedEX captain I will never leave any jumpseater as long as there is a seat available. Enough said.... "
What about a non-member?