ROCAT

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mkr

If I see a pilot in First, I assume the pilot belongs there. Unless I had direct proof of shenanigans, I would not make any accusations.

I hope the pilot being transported was needed to pilot another flight and needed to relax in First. I would want my pilot rested on my flight.

There also could have been an Air Marshal put in the other empty seat close to the flight.

mortenfan

Whew.... thought you had talked to the pilots in F or gate agent that's how you found out non rev pilots upgraded before #1 on the list....
Pilots in cockpit jumpseat--- he/ she is commuting. Pilots in F---deadheading, they are not standby, they have must ride highest priority, if necessary they can bump a revenue passenger on oversold flight. Pilot you see in Y--- commuting. If you really want that F seat, why don't you buy a F ticket?

coinboy66

The most shocking part about this whole thread is that a UA gold actually made it to the top of an upgrade list. ^

CALMSP

as others have pointed out, said employee is contractually given a first class seat. As for the other who was also in uniform, if you are going to sit in the jumpseat, you need to be wearing your uniform or other business attire.

as for the whole rest thing, I kinda balk at that. Reason being, does this mean that pilots for Southwest or JetBlue or Frontier are not well rested if they deadhead?

LilAbner

What many of you don 't seem to understand is that it is an unpublished rule that this forum MUST have at least 3 "Upgrade Shenanigan" threads on the first page at ALL times.

NOTHING needs to be proven, and ALL that is required is to have your, or a friends name, around the top 10 on the list to make serious/unsubstantiated accusations of hanky panky.

It really doesn't matter that UA owns these airplanes and decides who gets to sit where, because all that is needed is that super sleuths who know for certain that somehow they got screwed out of a free upgrade have the obligation and duty to report it to their supportive buds who also don't need no stinkin' proof about nuttin', and facts only cloud the issue (over & over again-every day)!

Akulashark

I have sat next to plenty of UA pilots in F. When traveling on official company business, they often sit in F and are given that seat because they need to be well rested.

If you want an F seat, buy it. Make sure its not an UP fare.

LaserSailor

And now its an officially published FT rule...and the official response is WFBF

^^^

boat9781

What constitutes pilots traveling on "official company business."

Could an example of that be, a pilot flies SFO - JFK, but is then needed to fly SEA - EWR, so the company flies him JFK - SFO - SEA in United First?

I ask because I had a pilot sit next to me in PS the other day; I didn't ask why he was upfront but he said he had just came from SFO and was heading to SEA to pilot a flight.

Thanks!

777Pax

Deadheading (being moved from one point to another by the company to cover schedule) is confirmed space and depening on circumstances may contractually require a premium cabin seat.

Commuting pilots (who will usually also travel in uniform) are non-reving and would only be accomodated if seats are available at departure and thus may end up in a jumpseat.

Zouf

The example you describe is deadheading - moving a pilot (or other crew member) from A to B to allow him/her to fly from B.

Commuting is when a pilot/crew lives in A, but is based in B, so flies A-B to start his/her day, and back to A once done.

The first case is imposed by the schedule, the second is a result of the crew's decision to reside in A while being posted in B (or of the airline's decision to post him in B while he resides in A). In most cases work contracts provide more for deadheading than for commuting, hence you often see commuters in Y and deadheaders in first.

There are of course a lot of other "company business" cases, of which going to/from training and check rides is an important part.

Bonehead

Remember when UA FC was called something like "Employee Class"?? CPUs largely put an end to that. You can thank Continental, by the way.

I've sat next to many CO and UA pilots who were contractually allowed a FC seat; this is a non-issue.

Singapore_Schwing

CPU's came around on UA long before Continental and UA were a twinkle in regulators eyes.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the comment...

Bonehead

Not sure about that. I recall thinking that when UA introduced CPUs it was a strong signal that they were positioning themselves for the merger with CO. That was my take at the time, so I think the merger was at least a twinkle in somebody's eye.

WineCountryUA

A key issue in the difference between deadheading / commuting is the pilot's / crew members base. To get to the base is likely commuting. To get to another airport is likely deadheading. UA is responsible for transportation when it desires a crew member to get to a different location for the company's convenience. It is the crew member's responsible to get to their base to report for duty. (May be a over simplified explanation but I believe essential correct - and I'm sure someone will correct me if this is incomplete)

Other issue is as a part of their contract in exchange for other concessions to UA, the pilots are provided premium cabin space when available if deadheading. I believe they get compensation if not accommodated.

UDU started in early 2010 and the merger was announced in late 2010. Many few UDU was part of a mater plan to align UA for a merger.