A jump seat (or “jumpseat”), officially known as an auxiliary crew station, is a small folding seat found in the cabin and the cockpit on a commercial jet. On some aircrafts, jump seats are in the vicinity of the passengers (i.e. beside the over-wing), some are hidden away from the passengers (i.e. in the back galley). If you ever wonder where flight attendants are during take off and landing, they are actually sitting in their jump seats. Jump seats are equipped with shoulder harness and a seatbelt for protection during strong impact. Around the jump seat, there are emergency equipments such as interphones, flashlights, fire fighting equipments etc.
Each jump seat is carefully placed in the cabin so that the occupied flight attendant could perform their duties during an emergency situation, which include opening the cabin door, dispatching the slide, and directing passengers to the nearest operative emergency exit.
We also occupy the jump seat during turbulence or our unofficial crew breaks.
Jump seats usually fold up and out of the way when not in use to keep aisles, workspaces and emergency exit routes clear.
Most flight attendants, including myself, love jump seats in the galley so that we get some privacy when sitting in it. We try to stay away from jump seats in the cabin, especially the ones facing the passengers. Why? We don’t know where our eyes should land on…….
Jump seats could be occupied by non-operating crew as well. Some airlines let their traveling staff to occupy a jump seat when the cabin is full – this is known as jumpseating.