Going Places
By Robert Levering
January 8, 2001

(FORTUNE Magazine) – You might not think of FedEx as a travel company, but perhaps the most popular perk is "jump-seating"--a practice allowing employees to hitch an unlimited number of free rides anywhere in the world that FedEx flies. Last year employees took 132,000 such trips. The Queen of the Jump Seat is Fatemeh Ashraf, a service agent in San Francisco. She has logged over one million miles in her 11 years with the company. An Iranian immigrant, she typically flies to keep in touch with her far-flung family throughout the world. She also enjoys the view from the cockpit, where jump-seaters normally sit. The best sunset: Alaska; best sunrise: Fiji. She's well loved by the pilots, for whom she always brings a batch of home-baked cookies.

--R.L.