I will help you look into it. I am not going to post the entire FAR, it is pretty long, but I will tell you how to find it.
FAA.GOV
REGULATIONS & POLICIES
FERDERAL AIR REGULATIONS (FAR)
BROWSE PART 60-129
PART 121
121.547 ADMISSION TO FLIGHT DECK.
IMHO, what is says is that if you are authorized to ride up front by all the agencies that can authorize it under PART 119, there needs to be a available seat in the back in the event the Pilot in Command wants you to leave the cockpit.
UNLESS,
you are authorized to ride up front and you are a certificated airman. In that case, a seat need not be available in the back.
DISPVP,
Thanks for your efforts to get to the root of the matter. I have received conflicting information regarding the question as to why flight attendants cannot occupy a cockpit jumpseat on AA. I ended up writing the following letter to Brett Durkin, the vice-president of the APFA whom I have known for many years. Hopefully, I will receive some answers from the union regarding these questions.
Note: my beef and the flight attendants' beef is with the APA's proposal. I do not wish to lump all pilots together or characterize them as being of a particular mindset. I believe most pilots are terrific people and even better coworkers, but there are exceptions (in every work group, including the flight attendants) to this rule.
Happy Thanksgiving to all,
Art Tang
IMA
Hi Brett,
After the APA's proposal became known to the general public, almost every flight attendant, including me, has felt a degree of anger and resentment toward the pilots's union. I realize Tommie has written a "corrective" to Ralph, but there are still a couple questions that everyone is asking. Perhaps you can answer them so I can share the information and, hopefully, put an end to some of the "disinformation" that is circulating.
1) What are the REAL, TRUE rules regarding flight attendants riding on a cockpit jump seat? I understand f/as at Jet Blue do it, and Air France allows it. So, is the reason for which we flight attendants at AA are barred from the cockpit jump seat due to FAA policy, AA policy, or APA policy?
If it is a company or APA policy, why doesn't Tommie simply ask Ralph for reciprocity vis-a-vis jump seat riding? This would seemingly resolve the debate between the APFA and the APA regarding the matter.
2) Equally important in my eyes is the APA's attempt to secure boarding priority for its pilots over the f/as when deadheading. I agree the system as it currently operates is broken. For example: have you deadheaded lately from, say, London to Miami with a whole crew? The entire crew magically reverts to a group of 7 year old brats fighting
for the best piece of candy (or in this case, the best available seat).
Whereas some flight attendants and pilots would disagree with me, I believe the best way to resolve this dispute is to honor seniority down the list. If the captain is senior, let her get first crack at the business class seat. If the #3 flight attendant is senior, then he should get priority. This is the only way to resolve the issue while
avoiding hierarchical divisions between the work groups. Note: this should be implemented only when crews deadhead from a layover and arrive together at the airport. Deadheading from home base should remain as it currently is because each crew member can get to the airport at his/her leisure in order to be placed on the upgrade list.
This idea would be easy to implement: the company would merely inform the agents that crews arriving from the hotel and deadheading together should be accommodated in order of seniority, regardless of position.
Why has Tommie not addressed this concern in her letter to Ralph? To allow the APA to walk all over us is not an option. At a minimum, Tommie needs to let the pilots' union know that its
attempt to secure boarding priority is, from the flight attendants's persepctive, nothing more than an effort to assert what the APA believes is the inherent pilot authority and superiority over the flight attendant. I was stunned that she failed to mention the issue in her letter to the APA.
OK, these are the questions that are circulating among the line flight attendants. Can you please provide clarification? If not, can you forward my letter to someone who can provide the answers?
Thanks, as always.
Art Tang
IMA
