Originally Posted by
parabellum
Fair enough. Have worked for three majors and given the circumstances of the flight in question, refusing the jump seat would have been classified as, "Neglecting the best interests of the company", a possible sacking offence in all three cases.
This raises two points, certainly as far as Australian airlines go:-
Firstly, if I'm
required to pax in order to commence a duty, I'll insist on a seat in the cabin as I have a responsibility to ensure that I'm in a fit and proper condition to operate the following flight or series of flights.
Secondly, ground crew can't just demand that anybody can ride in the jump seat.
Only the Captain can decide if anybody is going to ride in the jump seat and it should never be assumed that the seat will always be available.
There are several reasons why having somebody in the jump seat would be inappropriate.
A stuff up by the ground crew does not constitute an emergency for the flight crew!