Originally Posted by
chrisreedrules
In the past 2 years I can count on one hand the number of times I've missed a flight. And I have never had to stay a night in base after a trip ended. And sleeping in crew rooms is for FAs, pilots at the WOs have hotel money. Even when I was flying a build-up line, my trips at PSA were commutable out of CLT. Commuting is better for my quality of life. 5 minutes from the beach, 7-8 flights every day (and that's just on AA), no state income and much lower cost of living compared to living in base. Reserve would of been better living in base, but I was only on reserve for a few months. Go somewhere with short reserve times and it will be a moot point.
Agreed...sort of. I'm not saying it can't be done, or necessarily shouldn't be done (I did it for years in a former life). I'm just saying it's definitely more than 2-3 hours and in my opinion it is for sure not a moot point. Sitting in an airport, waiting on a flight that could leave anywhere from 1-4 hours after you finished your trip, hoping for a seat, stressing the loads, checking the weather, and having to ride in a plane after you have already been working on one all week is hardly a 2-3 hour moot point. That's all I'm saying.
Even being generous let's say you spend four hours on each end of your trips waiting on the flight and then actually flying into or out of base. That's eight hours per trip. 4 times a month is 32 hours a month minimum. 12 months a year and you're looking at just under 400 hours a year, and that's best case scenario. I don't know what your time is worth but mine is precious to me.
Not to mention commuting pretty much rules out several good lifestyle options: day trips, picking up open time on short notice for extra pay, and bidding reserve intentionally so you can work less and be home more. I'm not saying don't do it, but if I have the choice, I know what I'll take.