Originally Posted by
steve64
The Captain (along with the Dispatcher) is in charge of the flight while the flight is in operation. An airplane sitting at the gate is not a flight in operation. At this point, the Gate Agt is in charge of the flight.
All of this, and I'm surprised it didn't get more likes.
The bottom line (for this seat poacher scenario) is that whether he was deadheading as part of an active rotation, or a regular nonrev trying to get to FLL, he would have had a boarding pass with a seat assignment. Obviously his seat assignment was not for F. He chose to abscond with the seat. The FAs caught him. In the process, he acted a fool.
If he was jumpseating in the flight deck, his boarding pass would have reflected
01P as a seat assignment. In the COVID era, I imagine most captains and FOs operating the aircraft are going to want their jumpseaters to sit in the cabin. At that point he should have deferred to the purser on where the best location to sit is.