Thank you, nycbusdriver. I've always enjoyed your posts, and I hope we get the chance to fly together one day. As #1 (f/a working in F/C), I work on the philosophy that a happy, contented cockpit is a safe cockpit.
Watching for those employees and/or agents who try to scam the system is why I tell people--make sure you have a hard copy of the standby list from some source. If you suspect an agent is doing this on a regular basis, make sure you have more than one copy. Those date/time stamps can be invaluable--i.e., "this is what the list looked like at 1200. Note that I am #2 on the non-rev list. This is what the list looked like at 1230 when boarding began. Note that I have slipped to #4 on the non-rev list, and Jones and Smith who were #14 and #22 are now #1 and #2. I asked the agent about it, and he/she said it was none of my business. I would like to have an explanation of this change in status."
I don't know about the "new" AA, but at the "old" AA, such shenanigans have gotten people (both the agent and the traveler) fired. And, don't expect a lot of sympathy or more than minimum (Duty of Fair (but not enthusiastic) Representation) assistance from your union. Remember, your fellow union members commute/non-rev also.
Also, the "old" AA has travel agreements with just about every airline in the U.S. with the possible exception of Trans-Dogpatch (I'm dating myself now). So, there are few places in the U.S. where one is limited to commuting on only one airline. I commuted on Southwest between Dallas and St. Louis at every opportunity for the 6 years I was based at STL. Not only is Love Field over 20 miles closer to my home in Dallas than DFW, but the Southwest employees are so very nice to us. Considering that our airline has tried to thwart their airline at every step of the way for the past 40 years, it would not have surprised me if they were barely civil to us.
