This is nothing new all full time airline employees have some kind of flying benifits.
Each airline has different rules.I can tell you that most fly on a standby basis,you get the worst seats and hope you are not traveling at peak times you may not get back home on the day you want.I have flown on theese passes before and found it not so good.
Remember as a friend you are way down the list on getting on the plane,all employees go first.