Originally Posted by
Indelaware
Let me again be clearer. When I speak of non-flight crew, I don't of course mean legitimate jump seat riders (off duty flight crew, DOT personnel, etc.), I mean those who have no legitimate business being in the cockpit.
Having unauthorized people in the cockpit is certainly unprofessional in that it is illegal. And the US is not alone in this.
And simply knowing the person invited into the cockpit does not make it safe. Witness SU593 where unauthorized people in cockpit caused a crash.
I'm not a "legally" legitimate jumpseat rider, but of course I haven't been invited forward on a US carrier. There is one UA partner who flies (or at one recent time, flew) a commuter plane with an open cockpit space and one of the passenger seats was basically a co-pilot spot. What about that?