Originally Posted by
Airbubba
Back in the 1980's there were jumpseat airlines like Pan Am, TWA and Northwest that would take other carriers' pilots and in some cases dispatchers and mechanics. Other airlines, like United, would only take their own pilots and I believe Delta would not even take their own pilots at one time.
I was TWA 1964-90.
We couldn't ride our own jump seat without management authorization until late 1970s. Then, TWA-ALPA got the jump seat for TWA commuters only. Not for me since I lived within the defined local distance of LAX.
Then, in early 1980s, with the retirement of pioneer "black knight" senior VP of Flight Ops, it became wide open. Some of it made me a bit uncomfortable. I never refused but insisted they take a cabin seat unless we were full.
Interestingly, the "black knight" placed controllers ahead of TWA commuters in the late 1970s. Then, the PATCO strike and the controllers went behind TWA commuters and subsequently behind all commuters.