Originally Posted by copwriter

The underlying objection to the FAM (off duty or on) getting the seat in FC is that other customers seem to think that they should get that seat instead, even though they haven't paid for it. While the airlines have created a complex set of rules to determine the priority of upgrade awards, these awards are still not a birthright. Airline employees have discretion in granting upgrades and other incentives/benefits, as do employees in most other businesses.

When I was a working cop, I rejected the offers of free meals that many restaurants would offer, but I did ask that I get a table that was (1) out of the way, so that people wouldn't bother me while I was writing reports, and (2) was positioned so that I could see the door and keep track of who entered and left. The restaurant wanted my business, so they made this concession, even though it was slighly less convenient for the waitress (whom I was always careful to tip, by the way). Had another customer asked for the same table, I suspect they would have been denied it, unless it was the only one left in the store. That one was more or less reserved for me or my colleagues.

A common sub-topic in the discussions on this site is that FFs deserve better treatment than the occasional traveler, that non-FFs have no business in FC unless they pay for it, and that those big chairs up front are the exclusive domain of the elite traveler. And, although it usually isn't stated so blatantly, there was a comment in the Delta forum a couple of days ago that was directed at nonrev flyers, but I think was intended for the rest of us commoners that can't afford FC fares: "These nonrevs filthy up the premium cabins and make those of us who can pay for it not pay for it. (Sorry I am not a DL flyer but saw this topic) As a whole Nonrevs in my beliefs belong in coach no matter how hard they work. They work in a trade where they cannot afford first/biz so they should be happy to fly coach."
When I read that, I flashed on a comment made at one of my high school reunions from a classmate that had acquired the idea that he had moved several levels above me in social class. He referred to me as a "common policeman."

As I said in another message - get over it. If the airline wants to give a FAM an FC seat, on duty or off, they can do it. They can likewise do this for a serviceman/woman, a nonrev employee, or the guy that bags the captain's groceries at Safeway. If you are fortunate enough to get an upgrade, shut up and enjoy it, and if not, shut up and enjoy the ride in coach. If FC is really that important to you, pony up the full fare and get yourself a guaranteed seat. Better yet, form a new outfit with a name like Arrogant Air, that has 80% FC seats, all of them available only to their selected elite passengers. The remaining 20% of seats will be wooden benches, and the only meal service will be a bucket of water with a ladle, passed around from one passenger to another (a similar bucket will serve as the economy lav), and whatever the economy passengers can scavenge from the produce thrown at them by the FC passengers. The primary function of the economy seats will be to give the FC passengers someone to feel superior to.