CALMSP

while employees can be booked in C/F, it is not a contractual item. Certainl levels of employees are given access to fare buckets. If that fare bucket is not available, they have to book a different flight or book in coach. Even if the cabin is open.

example: ORD-LHR booked to 18/26..........however, C fare is not available, so I then have to book a different flight or book in coach.

matrixwalker2012

Well, the pilots did pay. They are on business travel and their employer bought first class tickets for them. Their employer also happens to be the one that operates the flight.

CAL PHL FLYER

If an airline employee is traveling on company business they are not a non-rev..They get confirmed first class..What I often wonder is if someone is so concerned with sitting in FC..why wouldnt they just buy a FC ticket.

DENviaLAX

Pilots deadheading are similar to any other person traveling on business, which is the category many here fall into. A lot of companies pay for business or first class seats for their employees to travel for business purposes, which is essentially what UA does for it's employees at times when traveling for business purposes. So I fail to see why some people have such a problem with it, because it seems perfectly logical and reasonable to me.

Indelaware

Regardless of what either UA policy or labor contract says, I'd gladly give up an upgrade in favor of any non-flying cockpit crew. They work hard, often in far from comfortable seats, suffer jet lag that few us do, crossing the continent and between continents several times per week. I want them to get as much rest as possible, even when not traveling on company business. If loosing an upgrade helps them rest, by all means: economy is fine with me, especially compared to a tired aviator.

Often1

No, they are lazy and slovenly people who take away freebies others who didn't and won't pay for F, but think that they are so important that they should get it for free.

mkr

So from now on, whenever you have been upgraded to First and you see a cockpit crew person headed to sit in E, you will get up and find that person and give them your already upgraded seat in First?

Indelaware

One need not be deferential, but name calling... really? Oh, wait, you are being sarcastic.

I've done it. However, I have also made last minute switches with elderly, disabled individuals, and with people who appear to be hard-working pleasant individuals who, like me, would never pay for F, but unlike me do not fly but occasionally. It may be bending the rules, but can be done with the right smile and words to gate agent or cabin crew. People tend to say yes to favors which they do not view as benefiting the requester.

Duke787

I don't believe FAB means they physically paid cash for the flight. I believe FAB means that because the issue was collectively bargained, the benefit came at a cost somewhere else in the contract.

So while there may not have been an explicit cash transaction, the pilots lost something in return for having the benefit.

west_end_NYC

Wow...50% as a Gold. Enjoying those Saturday-night flights to Vegas?

Actually EWR-PBI off season, five straight CPUs in a row including the last two right at the 48 hour mark.

sinoflyer

Employee traveling on company business: NRPS
Non Rev Positive Space

Employee traveling on their own pleasure/commute/whatever: NRSA
Non Rev Space Available

Both groups are nonrevs. Let's not let "nonrev" become any more of a pejorative than it already is on FT (not the least of which the UA board). I, for one, try my best to respect the employees' flying privileges when I encounter them, just as much as I expect the employees to show respect to paying customers when going through the procedures both on the ground and in the air.

freshairborne

Our contract stipulates that under certain circumstances, generally when deadheading for over three hours to fly a flight segment afterwards, with no duty break, we will deadhead in first class if available at the time of booking. No other employee groups opted to negotiate for that provision in their contract. That cost us something during contract negotiations. Had we not negotiated that, our hourly pay rate would have been a little higher.

Based on first-hand experience I feel more rested after riding in first class than I do after riding in coach, especially a long flight. I don't think anybody would dispute that fact. Also based on first-hand experience, when I was a regular commuter doing short commutes, I’d not worry too much whether I rode in coach or even the cockpit jumpseat going to work, but when I was commuting from west coast to east, I would invariably come out the night before and rest up in my crash pad before going to fly.

So, all other things being equal, I would say yes, when we’re flying, we're safer than someone riding in coach when commuting to work. Again, that’s indisputable. Of course, we all have the responsibility to make sure that were well rested for work no matter what seat we're riding in. It's just a lot easier when we ride in first class versus coach.

I have not deadheaded in anything other than coach in a very long time, probably since the advent of unlimited domestic upgrades. Most of my deadheads are either shorter than three hours, or I will not be flying after the deadhead, or "first class was not available at the time of booking", even when the deadhead was scheduled in excess of a month ahead of the actual deadhead segment.

FAB

iluv2fly

Hey, guess what. I work hard, suffer jet lag, crossing the continent and between continents several times a week. I want to get as much rest as possible, even when not flying on my company's business.

I think I deserve the F seat.

freshairborne

You're welcome, although no thanks needed. You'd be surprised, but although we deal with all kinds of stuff on a day-to-day basis, but deadheading is one of the more stress-inducing parts of my job. I'd much rather be working in the cockpit than deadheading. To me, the only place that's less comfortable on an airplane than a coach seat is the cockpit jumpseat.

FAB

mgcsinc

Sounds like y'all need a pilot's equivalent of the R space sniping thread.