Originally Posted by
MatchPoint
I completely disagree. Of my 7 years at SkyWest I've been based in FAT for 3.5 of them and getting to and from FAT has never been hard. LAS, PHX, LAX and DEN are all very easy when it comes to getting into and out of FAT. SFO is hit and miss with the flow but even SLC isn't bad. Try commuting DEN to ORD, SLC to MSP or ATL to MSP (Mainline company hub to hub) and you'll change your mind on what hard is.
In five months commuting into FAT and out of FAT once a week I got on a brasilia twice and got a seat in the back on Eagle twice. The rest were Eagle/RJ jumpseats or renting a car and driving. Typically I would show up around 10am and there would be 5 other people in uniform waiting for jumpseats, so the most senior person would get the jumpseat each time until it finally got down to me. A bunch of times I got to LAX in the morning and finally got to FAT on the 10pm RJ flight. Twice I had to rent a car with other crew members and drive. Once we flew into Visalia on Lakes and drove from there.
I don't doubt that mainline hub to mainline hub is a hard commute, but FAT definitely isn't easy. It was normal for me to spend 8+ hours sitting around LAX at least once every two weeks. Eventually when I had seniority to hold a different base I switched domiciles and haven't had much of a problem anymore. I don't ever want to go back to FAT if I can avoid it.