Jumpseat
The fold-down crew seat at each door or on the flight deck; as a benefit, the right to ride it free when commuting or travelling.
Definition
A jumpseat is the fold-away seat at a cabin door or on the flight deck that crew occupy for take-off, landing and turbulence, facing the passengers so they can watch the cabin. As a benefit, jumpseating is the right to travel on a spare jumpseat when the cabin is full: in the US, flight attendants can ride the cabin jumpseat of their own airline for commuting, and pilots ride the flight-deck jumpseat under reciprocal agreements. Spare jumpseats are released only once all crew positions are covered and the captain agrees.
What it means for you
The jumpseat is where you sit for the two most safety-critical phases of every flight, and its position defines your door and your evacuation responsibilities. As a benefit it is the commuter's last resort on a full flight: no seat in the cabin, but a legal way home. Most European and Gulf carriers do not offer jumpseat travel to cabin crew at all.
In practice
A United flight attendant commuting into Newark on a full Sunday-evening flight lists for the cabin jumpseat, gets it once the operating crew are aboard, and makes a 06:00 report that a missed standby seat would have cost them.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- Staff travelPay & benefitsHeavily discounted, usually standby, flights for airline employees and their families on their own airline and partner carriers.
- CommutingRoster & schedulingLiving somewhere other than your base city and flying in on staff travel before each trip, common at US and European carriers.
- Emergency exitSafety & trainingAny door or hatch certified for evacuation — the doors crew operate and the overwing exits passengers are briefed to open.
- ID90Pay & benefitsAn industry discount ticket at 90% off the full published fare, the classic standby staff fare on your own or another airline.