Rude self-upgrader pilot sent back to Coach last night
 

Hello DL flyers. I have been pretty critical of Delta lately but in this case I have to give the cabin crew on my DL #1232 (ATL-FLL) flight last night a lot of credit.

A super rude deadheading pilot boarded after it was clear that First Class had reached its maximum capacity of 50% (i.e., only 10 seats on the standard 752s due to DL's Covid19 caps). As he went to put his bags in the overhead compartments, he hit the head of the passenger in 3C and didn't even apologize before he sat in 4C. A few minutes passed and you could tell that the #1 and #2 FAs had spotted something fishy. #2 told #1 that they were only supposed to have 10 passengers in First and that she had already counted 10 previously. Then, #2 started looking at the manifest and I think she realized then that the deadheading pilot was ticketed in Coach. #2 directly went to tell the self-upgrader pilot and he was beyond rude shouting that he was a pilot and could sit in am empty First Class seat. #2 wasn't having it and pretty much told him that she would call the gate agents if he didn't take his assigned seat in Coach. #1 came to help #2 and the self-upgrader pilot was forced to take the walk of shame while everyone in First witnessed the event. Justice was done! Kuddos to the DL cabin drew for sticking to the rules. :)

The best part was the guy in 3C doing a "Bye, Felicia!" to the self-upgrader who had hit his head.

IMO this should be grounds for the pilot losing his non rev privileges. He caused a scene in front of DL customers and might have delayed the flight.

BTW, how do you know that he was deadheading and not simply traveling NRSA to commute to work? He would have been wearing a uniform in both cases. It's of course also possible that he was traveling on a paid ticket (paid personally by him) to commute for work but that's unlikely now as there should be lots of seats available for NRSAs.

Also, was he a DL pilot or possibly working for some other airline, a cargo company, or private aviation?

Because DL #1232 was the last flight of the night and there were already 10 of us in First; he couldn't have been a pilot commuting to work given the time of the flight. This pilot, a Delta pilot (I saw his ID and his bags had DL stickers) was just trying to abuse the system.

By the way, our flight was already delayed since boarding started quite late.

He could have been returning home from work on a late evening flight or alternatively traveling to his duty station the evening before an assigned flight.

Ok what's your point? He wasn't ticketed in First and had no right to try to violate DL's maximum 50% cap. Obviously the cabin crew knew his action wasn't appropriate or otherwise they wouldn't have sent him back to Coach.

The rules could be slightly different for deadheading (traveling on company business) versus nonrev travel. For instance, non revs (including buddy pass riders) are forbidden to even ask a DL customer to swap seats, but I'm not sure whether the same prohibition applies to employees traveling on company business, some of whom are entitled to premium cabin travel in some circumstances. A non rev is traveling for "free" as a courtesy when DL has empty seats, so it seems to me more egregious when a NRSA pilot behaves badly, although of course any employee in uniform is representing the company and shouldn't behave badly to customers or other employees.

Not every employee who is traveling on a flight on which he/she is not working is deadheading.

ADDED: DL can suspend an employee's nonrev privileges but cannot prevent some employees from deadheading at times unless DL suspends or terminates the employee.

Ok, thanks for the vocabulary lesson, mom. However, your point is moot... the guy wasn't supposed to be there plain and simple. The cabin crew knew, he knew, and all of us in First came to know. Maybe you can offer the perpetrator legal advise. HAHA

I'd give up my seat for the pilot. They are the ones taking us safely to and from, fighting fatigue, putting their career on the line every 6 months for medical checks, check rides etc. Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. You have absolutely no clue what his situation was. Many times a jumpseating pilot it told by the captain to grab an empty seat in front - for safety reasons in case something goes wrong, among other reasons. Not everything is so black and white!

Fighting fatigue? This isn't 1960. There are very strict federal regulations regarding crew rest. If they are tired then they are able to call in sick with no consequences. And while that plane is attached to the jetway, it belongs to the gate agents. That's why the flight attendant threatened to get the gate agent involved. It doesn't matter what the captain wants. The gate agent and dispatcher can even cancel the flight plan if they see fit.

every group has their 5% of jerks.

Belongs to the gate agent? umm...absolutely not. It is the Captain's airplane. You couldn't be more wrong! The gate agent has absolutely no authority to cancel a flight. Only the Captain and Dispatcher have that authority. That is not to say that many gate agents think they run the show but that is not how it works!

Look up FAR 91.3, 121.533-537, and several others on who is control....

The gate agent can most definitely pull someone from the flight or reassign their seat while the door is still open.

In the instant case, if the offending pilot had even half a leg to stand on, he'd have probably talked to the left seat in the "cabina" for assistance. Instead, it looks like he didn't walk back to Y with his tail between his legs, he walked back there after the tail was amputated.

...ok. It's clear to me what generation you're from. I bet you think the captain can still slap around the first officer.

Meh. Among the big deals in life, this ain't one. Bet the Captain and two FA's have forgotten this long before a thread was started about it on social media.