Flight is boarding and I'm in 3C on a 757 and a guy comes and sits in 3D. Two minutes later another passenger comes for 3D. FA is called and asks first guy for his BP and it says 1P. Guy states he didn't know where seat 1P was (so he sat in 3D!). FA educates him that 1P is the jump seat and he's escorted into the cockpit.
I find it strange that someone who is offered the jump seat wouldn't know he was getting the jump seat (and where it was) and just taking another random seat wouldn't work.
I have some friends who have ridden in 1P recently, part of a cross-departmental training program. One said he's going to frame his BP because that's one seat he'll never forget.
Of course those folks aren't pilots, and maybe it's different for pilots taking the jump seat, but they had so much paperwork & procedure involved there's no way they would not have known where to go.
I find it strange that someone who is offered the jump seat wouldn't know he was getting the jump seat (and where it was) and just taking another random seat wouldn't work.
Each airline processes jumpseaters differently. If you're jumpseating on a new (to you) airline you just have to feel your way through their process.
Jumpseaters are usually assigned a seat in the cabin and only ride in the cockpit if all cabin seats are full. Sometimes the Captain will tell the jumpseater to take any open seat. Sometimes the gate agent will have already assigned them to a specific cabin seat.
I've jumpseated on Delta so rarely that I have no idea how their process works.
I know the seat can't be very comfortable but I'd pay to sit in that seat. How cool would it be to sit in the cockpit for a flight? It's an AV geek's dream, no? Now I guess I understand how those videos make it to Youtube that are from the cockpit views on mainline aircraft.
Is there actually a way for the average Joe to obtain seating in the jump seat? Some sort of paperwork that you can fill out or request that you can make?
Not just for airline employees.....I had a friend who worked for FAA. He always rode in the jump seat when "checking" the pilots (he checked pilots when he had somewhere he wanted to go...hah!)
Is there actually a way for the average Joe to obtain seating in the jump seat? Some sort of paperwork that you can fill out or request that you can make?
Or is this only for airline employees?
Good question, does anyone know if possible and how so?
As a former Customer Service agent for a major airline I can tell you that you MUST be safety trained to sit in the cockpit or cabin jumpseat. FAA also can do it as stated above. Many airline pilots and FA commute and are able to get a jumpseat when no passenger seats are available.
Personally, back in the 80's when things were a bit more relaxed I got to sit in the cockpit with a Capt. who was soon to be retired. VERY cool experience, especially landing in SEA in crosswinds in a 747. Ohhhhhhh yaaaaaaaaaaa, those were the days.......
Jumpseating procedures differ from airline to airline. Generally it's only available to pilots and dispatchers of most airlines, select company personnel, and FFA/other government officials. At most companies, flight attendants can only sit in the FA jumpseat.
Sometimes your given a boarding pass, sometimes your given a pen and ink form, sometimes you board last, sometimes you board first - you get the point.
Most commuting pilots HATE sitting in the jumpseat. I preferred it over a non-reclining middle seat but that's about it.
My bet on what happened is that the jumpseater was told to sit in first by a member of the crew or the GA and then the passenger showed up at the last minute. Or he could just be a non-commuter, or new to jumpseating on Delta.
(If anyone is interested I could write a little more about commuting/jumpseating and share a few war stories.)
For Familiarization. My mother worked for the FAA, and she regularly flew in this seat. Yes, it was a perk that let her travel for free, but it also genuinely added to mutual comprehension of pilots & FAA people. You've got a lot of time to kill in those flights, and they welcome a new person to chat with.
She said that they were phasing them out. She also related the story of one jackass who got into the FAM seat, only to have his loaded pistol tumble out of his gym bag and into the cabin. He was not a criminal or a terrorist, just a moron she worked with. This was all pre-2001, needless to say.
Jump seat NOT for anyone
