jetcareers - View Single Post

FL270 · April 4th, 2004, 14:55

[ QUOTE ]
Can anyone tell me what it is like to commute half way across the country to a regional airline?

[/ QUOTE ]Commuting east-to-west is probably easier than commuting west-to-east because the time changes work in your favor on the way to work. You will spend a lot more time in airports and on airplanes, worrying about the weather and the loads and whether you'll get back to domicile in time to catch that "last flight out". You'll spend more nights away from home, either in a crashpad or the occasional self-paid hotel. The quality of a commute depends largely on where you are commuting to and from.

The easiest commutes are shorter, feature multiple nonstop flights between your departure and destination airports at varied times of the day, and ideally are even served by more than one carrier. (Commutes between Dallas and Houston or St. Louis and Chicago are excellent examples of "easier" commutes.) More difficult commutes will be longer, have very little or no nonstop service, require you to commute offline, or have a heavy concentration of commuters or consistently high loads. Orlando is hell to commute to/from because many pilots live there and the planes are almost always full. This makes it tough to get a jumpseat or a seat in the back. Certain markets are difficult to commute in ... PNS-ATL is hard because many Delta and AirTran pilots seem to live in Pensacola. DEN-IAH and DEN-EWR are difficult because many Continental pilots live in Denver and commute (dating back to when there was a CO hub in Denver). AUS-DFW can be difficult because many American pilots live in the Texas Hill Country and commute from AUS.

The best advice I can give is to look at your situation once you get hired. I've thought about all kinds of commutes over the years, but now that I'm starting at a specific regional and know where I'll be living, I've only got ten possible commutes to think about, and I've already rank-ordered them. Now all I have to do is see what I'm awarded when I get to class.

Good luck ... hope this helps.

April 4th, 2004, 14:55	#4
FL270 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,101	Re: commuting [ QUOTE ] Can anyone tell me what it is like to commute half way across the country to a regional airline? [/ QUOTE ]Commuting east-to-west is probably easier than commuting west-to-east because the time changes work in your favor on the way to work. You will spend a lot more time in airports and on airplanes, worrying about the weather and the loads and whether you'll get back to domicile in time to catch that "last flight out". You'll spend more nights away from home, either in a crashpad or the occasional self-paid hotel. The quality of a commute depends largely on where you are commuting to and from. The easiest commutes are shorter, feature multiple nonstop flights between your departure and destination airports at varied times of the day, and ideally are even served by more than one carrier. (Commutes between Dallas and Houston or St. Louis and Chicago are excellent examples of "easier" commutes.) More difficult commutes will be longer, have very little or no nonstop service, require you to commute offline, or have a heavy concentration of commuters or consistently high loads. Orlando is hell to commute to/from because many pilots live there and the planes are almost always full. This makes it tough to get a jumpseat or a seat in the back. Certain markets are difficult to commute in ... PNS-ATL is hard because many Delta and AirTran pilots seem to live in Pensacola. DEN-IAH and DEN-EWR are difficult because many Continental pilots live in Denver and commute (dating back to when there was a CO hub in Denver). AUS-DFW can be difficult because many American pilots live in the Texas Hill Country and commute from AUS. The best advice I can give is to look at your situation once you get hired. I've thought about all kinds of commutes over the years, but now that I'm starting at a specific regional and know where I'll be living, I've only got ten possible commutes to think about, and I've already rank-ordered them. Now all I have to do is see what I'm awarded when I get to class. Good luck ... hope this helps.