I don't think I'll be MD'd out of ATL and if I were to be then this AE will cost the company a fortune.

That said, as you fill out your just-in-case MD preferences you think to yourself - and people saying commuting is a choice?

I bet commuters save the company more money then they cost because if you were a regular employee at a regular company in MEM and it shutdown and moved to NYC you could say - see ya, and find another job locally. For an airline if you did that they'd have to hire another replacement pilot and pay for that training. But if you commute you save the company. Imagine if all of the DFW pilots had balked and quit in comparison to them choosing to commute. Compare that cost between replacement and no replacement. I mean if 100% of the guys commute from MEM to NYC to fly the 320 the cost to the company is what? Effectively zero?

Not to mention we're closing MEM 320 and opening NYC 320. Now imagine if you were flying a corporate A320 out of MEM making $90,000 and they told you the plane was moving to NYC and you've got to go there... for $90,000. You'd balk and probably quit because to keep your same standard of living you need a 80% raise to $160,000. And if you're not going to get that you'd be better off taking a pay cut for another job in MEM.
Cost of Living comparison calculator

That said you take the option to commute because it's there, I realize that and I wouldn't do it by choice. If I could only chose between commuting the rest of my career or moving, I'd move. Or look for another job.

But to say commuting is a choice, bah humbug.

In defense of commuters.

By a non-commuter.