BlueHenFlyer

Flew SAN - DEN yesterday at the very last minute. Was about the last person on the plane. Had to ask a WN employee (who had gone to SAN for a day off) to move his food on the middle seat in Row 1 to get a spot.

When we finally got to the gate (after waiting an hour for rampers), the pilot just about knocks those of us in Row 1 down to get off before us (he did).

Why is a WN employee getting on the plane first (hence getting the row 1 window)? Why can’t the pilot wait?

Who is the customer here?

Cledaybuck

There’s a good chance the pilot had another plane to fly in Denver.

smmrfld

As with most similar tales of woe, I would love to hear the other side of this alleged disrespect.

djp98374

im thinking is uber plane was waiting for him.

AllThePants

^ Likely, this.

Most airline employees getting a free ride get the last (middle) seats on the bus -- sometimes the jump seats. I've even seen it where WN employee-passengers are already on the plane before normal passenger pre boarding happens. And they've usually pre-positioned themselves in a nondescript middling (pun intended) middle seat that nobody else would really want - munching away at a snack while waiting for the boarding process.

The fact that the WN employee was (a) a pilot, and (b) positioned in Row 1 to get off the plane post-haste lends me to believe they were there to deal with the current employee/pilot shortage all the airlines are dealing with right now.

NoStressHere

BINGO.

There is always more to the story - sometimes details that others are unaware of.

bitterproffit

So, you’re mad that as one of the last people on the plane you got a middle seat? If that employee hadn’t been sitting there do you think being the last person on the plane you wouldn’t have gotten the middle seat? Do you think row 1 would have stayed empty for you?

ezefllying

It sounds like there are two employees involved in this story: The pilot, who was flying the plane, and another employee, who was in row 1 and flying on his day off.

I'd assume the pilot had to get to another flight, especially since you note you were delayed getting off. Otherwise, I've always seen pilots greet departing passengers.

The other employee, I have no idea.

EAJuggalo

I think OP was upset that they had to ask the employee to move their food off an open seat so the paying customer had a seat. I would have been a little put off by that as well.

ATLflyer2017

I think OP is reading into things way too much. I don't understand why passengers tend to perceive anything an airline employee does while flying as a passenger (in uniform or nonreving) as a direct attack.

More likely than not he was trying to catch his commute home or had to get to his next flight. He may not have realized that his stuff was on the seat.

dc2

This would have been annoying to me as well. That is one of those sneaky tricks to try to keep the middle seat open that the flight attendants tell passengers not to do. It would seem like in the interest of getting everyone boarded and in their seat as quick as possible that a fellow WN employee would know better.

Did the pilot come from the flight deck or from a row behind you? I rarely get that first row, so I don't have a lot of experience with deplaning from that position, but the few times I have- I have waited closer to my seat because I didn't want to get in the way of the flight attendant opening the door. (So, a pilot wanting the leave first would have clear sailing.) And, if I was in the pilot's way, I would have yielded without complaint. I think we can rule out that the pilot was worried about missing a connection-I'm sure they would hold it for him/her if he/she was flying it. But, maybe the pilot was almost out of duty hours and didn't want to get stranded at DEN. Or, having just flown in maybe the pilot could see some bad weather headed for DEN (and had to make a connection) and wanted to depart before getting delayed. Or, maybe some other traffic management initiative was looming--who knows?

ulmguy

Did he volunteer that he had gone to SAN for a day off or are you assuming? Deadheading Southwest pilots and FAs have a contractual right to pre-board when deadheading; if you don't like that blame WN for putting that in their contract.

Seems like you're making a lot of assumptions to fit your narrative. There could be multiple explanations. What if it was his day off but he volunteered to pick up a DEN trip? Even if it was his day off, if there's a plane sitting in DEN that can't leave without him in the cockpit you can bet WN is going to do everything it can to get him on that plane ASAP.

smmrfld

OP claims UA GS status. Could be the basis for IMO unrealistic expectations noted in initial post.

BlueHenFlyer

Should have replied sooner. Nope. He was right in front of me and headed for the B gates. Was getting a United flight home.

BlueHenFlyer

Guy was a ramper. He told me he had made a day trip to SAN to get some sun. Should have more boldly stated my evidence before getting flamed by such WN supporters.