Security
Hangar Flying: Jumpseat rides
FAREWELL TO GUESTS UP FRONT–Jumpseat rides on non-U.S.

FAREWELL TO GUESTS UP FRONT–Jumpseat rides on non-U.S. airlines are one of the many casualties of recent events. It wasn’t just September 11, either. Air-rage episodes (including an incident a year ago that put a British Airways 747 into a severe attitude and major altitude loss over Africa after a passenger entered the cockpit and wrestled with the crew) had pretty much put the kibosh on flight-deck visits by even the most well mannered passengers. September 11, the most nightmarish of cockpit intrusions, soundly squelched the last vestiges of this freedom on top-tier carriers.

I look back with fond memories of the many times I was invited up front over the past 20-plus years. Sometimes it was prearranged; other times I would send my card up front with a note asking if it would be possible to occupy the jumpseat for takeoff. Almost always the answer was yes.