New NonRev policy annouced

[jimntx]

(The board's quote function appears to be working only sporadically for me today.)

From USFLIBOI's post:
"Great information guys...so with US you check in on line but go to gate and are assigned a seat once revenue and senior pax are cleared. What you are saying is that boarding priority in each section ie d1 d2 d3 etc is based on when you checked in on line within the 24 hour rule prior to flight?"


Correct. With the exception that if there are plenty of seats available, the on-line checkin function will assign you a seat. Theoretically, the best available (not). But, you go to the gate and ask for a different seat. If you know how to look up info in RES, you will know that Executive Platinums seated in the exit row may get upgraded to F/C; so, you ask for their seat.

 

[Justme]

 
By the way, in my vast career of 12 years, I have never failed to get to my  non-rev destination the day I planned to go--just maybe not at the hour I planned.  Gate agents are absolute geniuses at getting people on airplanes.

Thanks Jim.  That's reassuring.  In my even more vaster career of 14 years I have actually spent a night in the DCA chapel and an unplanned night in a CLT hotel...otherwise I've always found a way, and yes, sometimes it was with the assistance of a gate agent or two.

 

[Justme]

okay...what do you charge for the online, short course entitled, "All That You Really Need to Know About RES"?  Because to be honest with you, I've got a cheat sheet for shares or whatever we call it and I can't get past screen uno...

 

[Justme]

another thing....it looks to me like family members travelling without the employee will still be D2 - current legacy US policy drops them from SA3 to SA4 (same group as retirees)
 
disregard....they drop down without the employee...

 

[mike33]

(The board's quote function appears to be working only sporadically for me today.)

From USFLIBOI's post:
"Great information guys...so with US you check in on line but go to gate and are assigned a seat once revenue and senior pax are cleared. What you are saying is that boarding priority in each section ie d1 d2 d3 etc is based on when you checked in on line within the 24 hour rule prior to flight?"


Correct. With the exception that if there are plenty of seats available, the on-line checkin function will assign you a seat. Theoretically, the best available (not). But, you go to the gate and ask for a different seat. If you know how to look up info in RES, you will know that Executive Platinums seated in the exit row may get upgraded to F/C; so, you ask for their seat.

On the US side i was pretty senior so always checked in at the Kiosk and got TSA precheck sometimes. 
Does this new system determine that you have already checked-in if you check in online and cannot use the kiosk and TSA recheck ? Somehow you need paperwork for the TSA

 

[jimntx]

You can print the boarding pass/priority verification card at home to get through security.  If not, you can still access it at the kiosk at the airport.

 

[nycbusdriver]

 
 
My union told me DOH was the gold standard.

 
Which is exactly how AA prioritizes standby cockpit jumpseats.
 
I understand that the company philosophy in this merger is "adopt and go" using the procedures in effect for the majority.   And I agree that it makes sense.  So, then, FCFS for pass riding is it.
 
I look forward to the new "adopt and go" DOH jumpseat policy, though.

 

[jimntx]

A concern...
 
When I logged on to Jetnet, there was an email in my mailbox basically telling me the same things those of you at LCC already knew.   However, I ran across something that concerns me--not for myself because it does not apply, but for others who spent their careers at AA.  I am quoting from the email section about retiree travel benefits.
 
"Employees who leave the company on or after Dec 9, 2013 will be eligible for lifetime non-rev, space available retiree travel for themselves and eligible family members based on a 65 point plan.  To qualify, you must have a minimum of 10 years of active service, and your age plus years of service must equal or exceed 65.  (I more than qualify.  )  The plan applies only to travel privileges and not other retiree benefits or programs."
 
Now...here is the part that concerns me for others:
 
"Employees who left legacy American Airlines before the merger closed are not eligible for this new program."   !!!!!
 
Does that mean that retirees prior to the merger will not get travel benefits at all?  Or, do they currently have limited travel benefits--i.e., a fixed number of passes per year--which will continue?  Or, does it mean that if they retired prior to age 65, they will no longer have travel benefits?  There is no further explanation of the policy in the email.
 
For those of you who currently have LCC travel policy...is there something similar in your policy that might explain this new policy for the new AA?

 

[traderjake]

I look forward to the new "adopt and go" DOH jumpseat policy, though.

 
Is it better for everyone to be able to plan their commute or just the senior pilot? 
 
I bet they change to our jumpseat policy.

 

[jimntx]

To Justme:
 
Actually, I spent 16 years in the Information Technology Department at Texaco, and was often called upon to teach programming and systems analysis courses because "they liked the way I could explain complicated concepts in a simple way."  I even taught a course for two years in the Graduate School of Management at Rice University (on loan from Texaco) on Business Systems Analysis and Design.
 
No charge for teaching you how to use RES, but if you ask just one time, "Why is that code used for that purpose?",  the class is over and you will be cast into outer darkness without hope of redemption.  The codes in RES are almost totally NON-intuitive.  For instance to look at the Standby list (which includes the nonrevs) the string of code ends in PALL.  Do NOT ask why PALL means standby list.  It just does.  Nor, have I met anyone in the past 12 years who knows.  And, the standby lists Oversolds (either this flight or rolled over from previous flights) first, then Upgrade Requests (Upgrade requests have their own priority system--Executive Platinums or company bigwigs are usually UPG1, the highest.  These people may already have seats assigned in coach; so, this info can be useful);  then non-revs listed in D1 through D3 order and by checkin time within a category.  However, the standby list does not display check-in times.  You just have to have faith that everyone is playing by the rules  including the computer.  I have heard stories of agents "jiggling the Standby List" to rearrange the order of the names, but I've never seen proof that it happened.

 

[jimntx]

To Mike33:  Why would you not be able to use the kiosk unless there wasn't one available at that location?  AFAIK, We have the kiosks at all locations in the U.S.  On our kiosks, if your state provides a magnetic strip on the back of your driver's license or there is one on the back of your company id badge, or you have your passport with you (we are required to have them on us at all times even if just flying from DFW to AUS.  You never know when you might get reassigned), you don't even need a credit card.  The kiosk can read just about any identifying magnetic strip.  It doesn't matter if you have checked in from home or even printed a boarding pass at home, the kiosk will let you print another.
 
If there is no kiosk, then you would have to get your boarding pass/priority verification card from the Check-In counter outside security.  Of course, if you are in uniform, just show your id to the TSA.  They don't have to know that you are just commuting.

 

[Bogey]

Which is exactly how AA prioritizes standby cockpit jumpseats.
 
I understand that the company philosophy in this merger is "adopt and go" using the procedures in effect for the majority.   And I agree that it makes sense.  So, then, FCFS for pass riding is it.
 
I look forward to the new "adopt and go" DOH jumpseat policy, though.

Good luck with that. I don't see the AA pilots giving up date of hire for the jump seat.

 

[jimntx]

To the question about family members and pass riders...it is your responsibility to get them checked-in for their flight(s).  I thought they could use the PNR identifier on the check-in function at AA.com, but not so.  I had my brother test it for me.  It didn't recognize the PNR identifier.  Non-rev listings are evidently recognized only by the Jetnet online checkin app.  That can be annoying when they are traveling outside the U.S., and you have to get up at zero dark thirty to check them in for a flight home tomorrow which is leaving Paris at 1300 Paris time.  I shudder to think when you would check-in someone traveling from the Far East--like Narita--to the U.S.  It doesn't matter what time it is to you, the 24-hour clock starts at 24 hours prior to the departure time in the departure city.  I was an English major.  Doing all that complicated time zone math makes my head hurt. 
 
And, to the question about pilots, jumpseats, etc.  If there are two cockpit jumpseats, two cabin seats, and 6 pilots, they can always call Pilot Crew Scheduling iif they are commuting TO work and get their priority code changed to A classification--like A1D, for instance--which means traveling on company business.  In a case like that, pilots get priority over revenue passengers if necessary.  Again, not a system that can be scammed.  Remember that the Crew Scheduling bunch has even better access to load information than you do.

 

[overhauler]

another thing....it looks to me like family members travelling without the employee will still be D2 - current legacy US policy drops them from SA3 to SA4 (same group as retirees)
 
disregard....they drop down without the employee...

Immediate family members travel D2 on AA regardless if they are traveling with the employee.  From the following statement, seems like it stays the same.
 
· Eligible travelers including spouse/domestic partner, eligible children, and registered guests/companions are able to board at the employee’s or retiree’s boarding priority if traveling D2 or D2R, regardless of whether or not they’re traveling with the employee/retiree; parents travel at D2P if alone, and at the same priority as the employee/retiree if traveling together; buddy passengers will board as D3 priority regardless of whether or not they are flying with the employee.

 

[MEM78]

Another slap in the face to senior employees! Now I have to drag my tired ass out of bed in the middle of the night and sit in front of the computer to be sure I get my "rightful" place at the front of the line. Just so "junior" can be sure he gets to ride.