Originally Posted by
sandrich
Commuting to and from Puerto Rico will probably take a full day in each direction. Most of the junior/reserve lines I saw only had 2 or 3 consecutive days off, so I dont think it'd matter which base you're at because all of the northern bases would be very difficult to get to PR and back in your time off. But to answer your question, Billings is the most commutable base of the northern bases. And no, you cannot pick, but you can list your preference on the bid and they do their best to accomodate your requests, or so I'm told. You can bid Florida, you might get lucky, if not they just use your next choice down. FLL is most senior. Hope this helps.
I am not sure who wrote this message, but I have been in our Northern Operations since 2008 and have actually flown with guys having family in Puerto Rico. This person is correct in that getting to and from Puerto Rico is probably a full day. However, Billings is definately a harder commute than Dubois, Parkersburg or Bradford. The problem with Billings is you are already half way across the country and you cant really go anywhere out of Billings. This is what I have heard at least from the people I know that are stationed out there. Hope this helps.