Nathan, that's not entirely true. As long as there is a passenger willing to pay (money, miles, certs) to upgrade, and is on the DM (Departure Management) list, United's policy is to upgrade the public first. The only exception is when the only seat onboard is a First Class seat and the FA has to get to a location to make a flight (otherwise that flight would be canceled due to lack of crew), then they can be given a FC seat over a standby passenger at the gate. Now if First has empty seats and a Premier isn't on the DM list willing to give up something for the upgrade, yes, the FA can move on up. United's FA Union contract does not entitle them to First all the time and only allows them First if it is truly empty (and no one on the DM list waiting for them).

I as a 1K and with over a thousand United flights under my belt I have rarely seen this abused. When I did see it abused, I reported it and was told that action would be taken (and it was).

If you ever see a FA sitting in First when you were on the DM list willing to use certs, miles, money to upgrade, make a note of the Date, Flight Number, the seat assignment of the FA in question, and write them. If they find the facts indicate abuse, they will take action towards the Gate Agent who checked them in, and you'll probably get a amenity for your inconvience.

In Punki's case, I think she was more upset about the way it was explained to her rather than that the FA's got onboard. I've actually seen (on several airlines) passenger get bumped from a flight to make room for FA's. As the receipient of such a bump you would not be very happy. But the airline's work tightly with crews, and try their best to reserve seats for them in advance just like the public. But if there are flight delays and if the FA's don't get to their next destination in time, it could mean the cancelation of an entire flight(s) further down the line. So the airlines take the lesser of 2 evils and incovienience a few to avoid grounding a whole plane load.


[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 08-17-1999).]