Pi brat said:
Not a flame, a serious question. What is it about FCFS that people like? I've never used it.
One issue I have as a crew member is that often we are in the air, thus unable to check-in 24 hours in advance.
I am a flight attendant who commuted for over 6 years from DFW to STL--not my choice...when I was recalled from furlough, DFW where I had been based and where I lived was not on the list of available bases I could bid on (LGA and DCA were the other 2 choices. I may be crazy, but I ain't stupid). I would have had to move to STL if DOH had been the boarding standard. Over 90% of the STL f/a base commuted at that time, and almost all of them were senior to me.
As it was, there were a number of times that I had to commute up much earlier than would appear necessary and spend the night at my crash pad because the flights the next morning were already booked with only jumpseats available for f/a commuters. It wasn't worth risking a missed trip to try to be one of the first two people checking in 24 hours in advance.
If you know you are going to be in the air at the time the 24-hour check-in window opens, then you list for a different flight. More than one STL commuter never learned that lesson. They insisted on listing for the last flight that would get them to STL in time for their trip check-in. Then they would go out to DFW and try to get someone who was checked in ahead of them to surrender their boarding pass because "Man, you gotta let me have your boarding pass. I already have two missed trips, and they are talking about terminating me." No, you list for a flight that you have a better chance of getting on.
Neither system is perfect, but I never had a missed trip as a result of commuting, and there are a lot of other PMAA f/as who can say the same who have been commuting for years on the FCFS system. And, what I like about it is that I have an equal chance with every other employee to get a non-rev seat on the plane.
To the person who said they don't understand how FCFS works, it's very simple. There is an app on the computer (AA's, not your computer) called JETNET Check-in. If you are non-revving or traveling pos space (such as, pilots and f/as deadheading to work a flight out of another station), you can check-in up to 24 hours in advance of the scheduled departure. You can even put yourself on the standby list for a F/C upgrade at the same time. The system will prevent you from checking in if you try it earlier than 24 hours in advance.
It has nothing to do with what time you show up at the airport the next day. Your place on the standby list is determined by the timestamp on your check-in request. You may be first. You may not be first. But, once you are on the list, your position within a travel category (D1, D2, etc) can not be changed. If you are one of those people who lists for a 0600 departure, but you can't be bothered with getting up at 0550 the previous day to check-in at 0600, well, you are going to have problems from time to time getting on a flight. Just like a junior employee (and at both PMAA and PMUS, I would put that at anyone with less than 20 years) who lists for the last possible flight under the DOH system when you know that flight is going to have lots of people listed who are senior to you.
