Jumpseatnews: A 20-Year Journey

June 20, 2020 - Exactly twenty years ago tonight, the first pages on Jumpseatnews were launched. This 1-hour special video takes a complete look at the creation of JSN and how it evolved throughout the past 20 years.

This is the official documentary on the creation and rise of the Jumpseatnews.com website. JSN was an unauthorized United Airlines flight attendant resource center that was published June 20, 2000 and remained active for 20 years.

Table of Contents

00:00 - Introduction
01:07 - Chapter 1: My First United Flight
02:52 - Chapter 2: Getting Hired in Chicago
11:30 - Chapter 3: Honeymoon Period
16:44 - Chapter 4: Detachment and Disconnect
19:56 - Chapter 5: The Birth of Jumpseatnews
22:58 - Chapter 6: The Rise of Jumpseatnews
32:44 - Chapter 7: Bailey
34:34 - Chapter 8: JSN Continues to Grow
36:01 - Chapter 9: AFA and 9/11
39:02 - Chapter 10: Goodbye Bailey
41:54 - Chapter 11: In a Closet in a Cabin
43:58 - Chapter 12: The Rise of Social Media
46:33 - Chapter 13: Some Favorites
50:54 - Chapter 14: Greatest Jumpseatnews Gift
51:52 - Chapter 15: Saying Goodbye
53:33 - End Credits 

All views expressed in this video are not necessarily those of United Airlines, its employees, its affiliates, its advertisers, or its consumers.  Also, all views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Association of Flight Attendants, its members, or its officers.

This video was written, produced, directed, edited, and published by Christopher Lee. No outside organziation nor any individual assisted with this project.

Unfortunately, the original 3 pages (mentioned in the video) created for Jumpseatnews at launch have been lost. If those 3 pages are located, a link to view them will be published here.

Please visit Climate Improve: https://www.climateimprove.org/ 
This is my daughter's website and torch passes on to her.

Enjoy!

About This Video

I knew that no one else could tell the complete story of Jumpseatnews, so I had to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I shot the entire video in my living room -- using 3 separate cameras all rolling at the same time, plus two separate audio capture devices which were later synced in post production once I edited everything together. 

The video shoot lasted several days. Then, additional B-Roll footage was captured and edited for several weeks while I color corrected and adjusted the studio footage, as well as created motion graphics, music, and titles. For accuracy, various sections of the original JSN website were hand-coded from their original files from 2000 and restored to the exact same manner they appeared when first published. Even the music files heard in the video at various points were restored from the original and actual MIDI files first included on the website in 2000.

Shooting and editing a video like this is a lot of work, but I wanted you to have something more than just a smartphone message or social media post. If you know any former JSN user or UAL employee that might want to see this, please feel free to share.

And Finally

While no new content will be published, JSN will still remain online for awhile as I slowly take pages/sections down. I discussed this back in my article here. I'm still not ready quite yet to pull it down completely.

I am lucky. Lucky enough to belong to the most supportive, hard-working, and generous group of people I have ever seen.

That is what gives me hope.