Domiciles

[faceof5]

No matter what airline I fly for, I want to live in CA. Mainly either Socal or the Bay Area. Skywest has doms all over CA however their mins are higher than American Eagle so I would probably have a better chance of getting hired by AE. The problem is that AEs only domicile in CA is LAX (right?). I hate LA and would not want to commute there. If I were to live in Socal it would have to be Orange county or San Diego. I wouldn't mind flying out of Ontario. Anyways, my question is, if I got hired by AE, I know they have flights in and out of San Jose where I currently live. How could I fly for AE but live in SJC when their dom is in LAX? Especially when you are a reserve they say you must be 2 hours from the base.

How does the whole commute thing work?

[av8sean]

Alot of people drive to LAX from OC. Shouldn't take more than 2 hours. SJC isn't doable, LAX reserve is loooong.

[SpiraMirabilis]

while on reserve you can't unless its an hour or so away. Also don't chose an airline based on one domicile because they close down without notice. Whats wrong with higher minimums? I've got enough TT now that I could get an interview with Skywest and only recently have felt comfortable with the idea that I could have 50+ people in the back of an aircraft now. And I consider myself to be a good and confident pilot (who doesn't though, right?) so it makes me wonder how these 300 hr guys are doing. If you want some advice, don't be in a rush.

[faceof5]

I guess I'm not in too much of a rush. I grew up in OC and I saw the daily commute to LA and I swore I would never live that life for any job. Ontario I wouldnt mind. What regionals are based at San Diego?

Do you think it's just a matter of time before a regional puts a dom at San Jose? SJC is expanding and the South Bay/silicon valley is growning like crazy.

[SpiraMirabilis]

skywest.

[zmiller4]

Originally Posted by faceof5

I guess I'm not in too much of a rush. I grew up in OC and I saw the daily commute to LA and I swore I would never live that life for any job. Ontario I wouldnt mind. What regionals are based at San Diego?

Remember, it's not usually a "daily" commute. My "commute" is a 2hr flight to work and back once a week. On reserve, you'd probably be doing it a little more often, but it still wouldn't necessarily be a daily thing.

Skywest has a small Brasilia base in San Diego. I have no idea how long it's going to be around for, but I wouldn't count on its longevity--the Brasilia has been on the way out for a while, and I bet the small domiciles will go first.

Originally Posted by faceof5

Do you think it's just a matter of time before a regional puts a dom at San Jose?

I can't imagine who would. I wouldn't want to live anywhere near the south bay on regional pay, either. Unfortunately, the reality of the industry is that sometimes you're going to either have to live somewhere that's not your first choice or have bit of a commute.

[jtrain609]

There are quite easily a zillion (20+) flights from San Jose to LAX per day. That's not a commute, that's like driving to work.

I commute from Salt Lake City, UT to Newark, NJ which has 2 flights per day and is a 4 hour flight. I've flown with captains that do or have done Newark to LAX, Zurich to EWR, etc. etc. THOSE are commutes. Honestly you've got so many flights between San Jose and LAX it would be cake to do.

Yeah, you'd sit in a crashpad when on reserve, but it would be a super easy commute.

[guardguy]

How hard is it to get LAX with AE?

[JA Yawd Bwoy]

Originally Posted by guardguy

How hard is it to get LAX with AE?

I think it would be very easy because upon hiring you AE lets you choose the base you want.

[MQAAord]

You can live anywhere you want. You don't have to be based at the airport closest to where you live.

When I got recalled in 2002 I got displaced to LGA. There was no way in hell I was going to move to NY. I commuted from IND to LGA, even though ORD is by far much closer than LGA.

There's plenty of flights from SJC to ORD or DFW. Like someone else said above you commute to work usually once a week not once a day.

[faceof5]

Originally Posted by MQAAord

You can live anywhere you want. You don't have to be based at the airport closest to where you live.

When I got recalled in 2002 I got displaced to LGA. There was no way in hell I was going to move to NY. I commuted from IND to LGA, even though ORD is by far much closer than LGA.

There's plenty of flights from SJC to ORD or DFW. Like someone else said above you commute to work usually once a week not once a day.

So if I were to live in SJC I would catch a flight to LAX once then be gone from home for 3-4 days then come back? And if I am supposed to be able to report to my domicile wihin 2 hrs while on reserve, could I be always sure to catch a jump seat in time in SJC to make it o LAX?

[doug_or]

"So if I were to live in SJC I would catch a flight to LAX once then be gone from home for 3-4 days then come back? And if I am supposed to be able to report to my domicile wihin 2 hrs while on reserve, could I be always sure to catch a jump seat in time in SJC to make it o LAX?"

Unless you have long call reserve, you'll need to be able to get to the airport quickly, and that means driving. Most people commuting to reserve will stay at a crashpad in domicile for the duration of their reserve period. This can mean 6 days away from home followed by a 2 days off (with travel to and from home occurring on days off). That sucks. Line holders will generally work 3-5 days in a row and then go home for 2-5 days before coming back. I spent a year commuting (and wouldn't wish on my worst enemy) and generally just went back and forth once a week. As far as commutes go SJC- LAX would be a breeze. The problem is I don't know which Cali bases to trust. Upgrade at Eagle is legendary, and LAX is traditionally senior. I've also heard that they've had their flying reduced significantly in recent months (third person). Most of SkyWest's CA domiciles are Brasilia only and the future of those aircraft is very uncertain, due to the LAX issue. ExpressJet has LAX and ONT bases, but movement has slowed down significantly there and the branded flying has been weighing heavily on their companies financial health. So, ahhhh, yeah..... The only thing thats for certain in this industry is uncertainty.

[gtlyon]

Hey face--not to mention,Oakland and SF have a trillion flights going to so cal as well! Not a much of a drive from San Jose if you are in need of a flight.

[CFII2008]

Originally Posted by gtlyon

Hey face--not to mention,Oakland and SF have a trillion flights going to so cal as well! Not a much of a drive from San Jose if you are in need of a flight.

Is there anyway one could live in the Bay Area and be based out of LAX druing reserve? Do they really only give you 2 hrs or is it more?

[MQAAord]

When one is on reserve, it's usually best to have a crash pad in your base city. A place where you can stay so that you'll make your reserve call-out times.

Some airlines have long-call reserve, where you get as much as 12 hours notice, but they may also have a certain number of "short call" days, where your call-out is as short as 2 hours.

If you're on reserve, be damn sure you can get to the airport in the time alloted. If you have a 2 hour callout and you're on reserve in LAX, you'd better be in LAX! Not the bay area!

But again, why so big on having to be based in LAX? There are many flights from SJC/OAK/SFO to pretty much every major hub airport for every airline. There are people who commute from the bay area to NY. You would probably get off reserve sooner, and have an easier commute if you were based elsewhere.