Good evening IFC users, today is my first topic? I’ll talk about my experience with Air France and the A318 jumpseat.
All started around 5 months ago, back in October 2019…
I was soon going to Oslo, Norway, for leisure travel. As i would love to become an airline pilot, i decided to mail Air France to ask them if i could get a jumpseat on my flight. They kindly responded that they couldn’t give the jumpseat at that moment, because only the captain can allow someone in the jumpseat.
Now, let’s foward a few days later, to October, 24th…
07:00 AM
I’m on the TGV from Dijon, France, Direct to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport. Starting to prepare myself on how to kill time at the airport, because i took the cheaper option of taking this very early direct train to CDG Airport instead of going to Paris then take the RER to CDG Airport. However this cheaper option meant i would have to stay for 12h at the airport, not being able to go anywhere else.
10:00 AM
i asked the check-in agent if i was able to check my luggage eary, because my flight was only leaving at 09:00 PM.
04:30 PM
I was sitting in the gate area, when suddenly an Air France steward sat next to me. I didn’t wanted to annoy me, so i decided to take a look at Flightradar24 to see which aircrafts were pasing alongside my terminal. The steward recognized the app, and asked me :
- Oh, is that Flightradar24 ?
- Yes it is
- So you’re interested in aviation ?
- Yes, i would like to become a pilot someday.
- Nice , he responded.
I was saying to myself : “this occasion is too great, now is your chance to ask him.” - Are you on tonight’s flight to Oslo ?
- Unfortunately not, i’m deadheading to my house in Brest.
Then i started to explain everything : - I’m 17 years old, and in my last year of high school, an i consider Air France as a potential future employer for my pilot career. Is there any chance of getting access to the jumpseat on my flight ?
- I’ll take a look through my Ipad.
The steward takes his Ipad, and asks me the flight number of my flight, he takes a look through the crew details and say : - Oh i know a flight attendant on your flight, don’t you mind if i take a salfie with you, like that i’ll send it to her ?
- No problem.
And here it goes, he takes a selfie, send it to the flight attendant, and he goes to his flight. Now i’m on my own, waiting and waiting.
8:30 PM
Here we are, getting ready to board Air France flight 1274 from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle to Oslo. The aircraft today is F-GUGI, a 15.4 years old Airbus A318. The flight was 30 minutes late, due to some luggage issues at the airport he came from, Nantes.
Finally time to board. The purser awaits us and greets us at boarding, and i ask :
- Good evening mister, i would like to know if I could access the jumpseat ?
- Are you Dylan ?
- Yes I am.
- Okay, wait next to me until we complete the boarding.
I was exited like crazy, this is it, i will finally get into the cockpit for the full flight !
Boarding ends, and the purser closes the door, and shuts the curtain between the first row of business and the galley. then comes the famous flight attendant, who asks me if i’m Dylan.
Now it’s time to enter the cockpit, where i was greated by the Captain and the First Officer, and they gave me all the safety and security briefing that was necessary for the jumpseat.
and soon, it was time for pushback
We pushed back behind an Air France A321, and soon we were taxiing to runway 09R.
Here we are taxiing, on the left we can see the famous Terminal 1 of CDG Airport. (sorry for the blur, but i took the picture right a the moment when we were hitting a taxi light)
Soon, we were reaching the intersection D5, and we were told to lineup in sequence behind a SkyTravel Boeing 737-900ER, who was going back to Prague.
Here we are lining up into Runway 09R.
And soon, it was time to takeoff.
(sorry for the sound after liftoff, i uncounsiously put my finger on the mic of my phone. What an idiot)
Right after takeoff, we headed straight to the north, on our way to Oslo. We cruised at FL310 for this flight, and went at max operating speed of M0.82 to catch the delay, that we managed to get at the arrival, arriving 5 minutes late instead of 30.
we got a small snack during the flight, as it was quite late. a small tuna and lemon sandwich and a glass of coke. It was good :)
Soon, it was time to land, again, here’s a video for you all :)
(again, i had the same issue than at takeoff, sorry for that mess)
and here we are, on the ground at Oslo Gardemoen Airport ! We were the second last flight to land before the Airport closed.
The evening neighbour of our Babybus for the night was this Lufthansa A320-214 with Sharklets
and here is some picture at the gate, before deboarding.
That’s it for today’s topic, i hope you enjoyed that story.
Let me know in the comments if you had a similar experience !
See you soon in the skies :)