I am curious where I would fit in under the jumpseat priorities Bill Moore proposed in his September 1998 Jumpseat article.

Being retired USAir after 29+ years and now flying for a small startup I utilize the jumpseat frequently commuting to DTW. Would I fall right behind a current US Airways pilot or drop to the bottom of the list if a UAL or DAL pilot shows up after I have already gotten the jumpseat?

Recently I was traveling to visit my brother and had requested jumpseat on a flight and five minutes before departure a US Airways pilot showed up and took it. I was denied by the agent since it was a company pilot and thus had priority (there were seats available in the back). The US Airways pilot had the ability to book the jumpseat in advance, a privilege I lost when I retired, but he had not done so.

Pro Air is based at Detroit City Airport (DET) and we are the sole carrier operating there. Our jumpseat policy is very liberal. We will take as many jumpseaters as we have empty seats. US Airways does not have as liberal a jumpseat policy supposedly because the FAA won’t let them. How is it then that many other carriers are so free with jumpseats? While there are not many US Airways commuters out of DTW, we do have two daily flights to PHL and BWI, both US Airways bases. Parking at DET is close and free.

I find it most interesting that most agents will not allow me down the jetway to ask for the jumpseat until departure time, which I believe is wrong, and so the Captain was taken out of the decision process in the incident above. When I was still on the line I would have given the jumpseat to the offline pilot since the online pilot showed up late but the agent eliminated that option. Also, the online pilot could have ridden in the back but elected not to, even though he was told of the prior request which was inconsiderate of him. (The online pilot did not know I was retired and still had pass privileges.) The Captain was unaware of my earlier request and so was taken out of the decision loop.

For my entire career at Allegheny/USAir jumpseat was, and still is, first come/ first served for offline pilots and, in my opinion, should not change.

While non-revving during the recent Thanksgiving holiday, my wife was embarrassed for US Airways by deadheading crewmember comments. The aircraft had a mechanical problem before takeoff and had to return to the gate. Deadheading crewmembers festively expressed their glee over the potential cancellation (which it eventually did) and potential scheduling good deals that might result. Revenue passengers could easily hear these comments and were livid that crewmembers were verbally expressing excitement over passenger misfortune. This is a good example of uncontrolled shoptalk being bad for PR. Let’s use our heads.

Jim Donaldson (PIT)
MD-80

I recently retired after 31 and a half years with US Airways/PSA. As I commuted from SAN to PHL to fly my "last trip" I jotted down a few thoughts about my flying career:

Notes written on a Barf Bag While Commuting

My pants now shine like my shoes.
My shirts are yesterdays news.
Coat buttons need thread,
My shoes have no tread,
The uniform no longer blue.

The elastic is gone from my socks.
My flight kit no longer locks.
The Jeppesens are ripped.
The carryons unzipped.
Paperwork is stacked in a box.

Leather in my belt has rotted.
My ties spots are respotted.
My bag’s held by wire.
IT’S TIME TO RETIRE
I’ve used up the time I’m allotted.

Thanks for the wonderful years!

On November 19th, the world lost one of the leaders in severe weather research, Dr. Tetsuya (Ted) Fujita.

The reason that US Airways pilots should take note of the untimely passing of this man, is that on July 2, 1994, our Flight 1016 crashed in a forest in Charlotte, seconds after initiating a go-around. I was a member of the accident investigation team assigned to the weather group, and had the honor to work with Dr. Fujita and William Haggard of the Climatological Consulting Corp of Asheville, collecting data after the crash.. Dr. Fujita is perhaps best known for the "Fujita Scale" used to classify the strength and destructive force of tornadoes. Dr. Fujita’s results (although never used) showed the storm that the pilots saw on radar at the south end of the field had thrown a rare type of "descending ball microburst" at them from above. The research showed that the pilots never saw what was coming, and the right turn that they made, allowed them to barely miss the most intense part of the microburst. This planned action undoubtedly saved many lives. Not only the passengers on Flight 1016, but also the three airplanes that were waiting to take off on Runway 18L. Had they continued straight ahead they would have likely impacted just short of the runway and come over the rise in a flaming ball. Our pilots and our company owe this man great respect. Hopefully, someone will come along to continue his work; but I doubt that anyone will equal his devotion to the truth and his love of the most important phenomena associated with our work. I for one will miss him.

I am continually astonished at the breadth of concessions that continue to spill forth from the latest pilot agreement, even though I have not yet received my copy, and the NWA pilot group already has theirs.

Why the Company is not treating us better is a valid question to ask, considering the scope of what we gave them in the best of times. One must ask now, what our negotiators are planning to give next time when perhaps the economy is worse? I fully expect them to give more if they are still on the committee.

Of particular note is LOA 44. After we paid for an early retirement program to create movement, we negate it by allowing vacation fly back and flying to 90, which fully means some achievers will undoubtedly go for a 95. Did the negotiating group consider the impact this will have on staffing requirements? After lamenting for years about stagnation, we are enabling the Company to hire fewer pilots.

I have come to quantify my reserve time of duration in these times of presidential discussion, in presidential terms. When asked how long have I been a reserve with the answer "Since the Reagan Administration." Perhaps that will put in perspective how long many of us have been on reserve.

I am wondering how long it will take our collective group to realize this management team will never respect our profession, and has fully given the green light to harass us at every level. Some LEC leaders continue to believe this is due to the leadership of the MEC, and all will be better when they depart. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If you have any questions regarding the nature of the present management, please feel free to ask any of United’s 9000 pilots. This management team will never be successful if they continue to harass the employees who truly believed in their company at some time in the past.

We must elect at the local level, pilots who will not continue with the mindset that lower pilot wages, less vacation, fewer Contract provisions for scheduling, and the like are the key to the Company’s success. We must demand a completely new set of faces on the Negotiating Committee, or you will be faced with more Contract stripping.

I am amazed at the scope of the newly implemented b-scale for the Baltimore hub. How long will it take for the excitement of being a new Captain to wear off, and the realization to set in that you are flying a similar piece of equipment for substantially less. What can be said for the First Officers displaced to this against their will. And this is going to send Mr. Kelleher fleeing the area??? Please!

When will the MEC divorce the pilot group from the procurement of airplanes, as if we were ever the determinant? Yet there is no stand on this. Mark my words, the DC-9 will be kept around until fuel prices rise, then will be conveniently used as a lever to pry something else from the pilot group, or the threat of parking and backwards movement will start again.

I will vote NO on every stand the MEC makes unless it starts to wake up and do what it was supposed to do—represent the pilots. As of late it has enabled management too much for this pilot’s liking.