Originally Posted by
RVator6
With the seasonal shifts in flying, can your base change at company discretion? I am curious b/c I may like to apply once hiring resumes, LAX would be my hopeful/preferred base. However, I don't understand these virtual bases and am a bit hesitant because they seem like they might dip into the pocket book a bit too much...
LAX is busy in the summer (3 jets) and not so much in the winter (2 jets). So they TDY people in for the summer, and sometimes TDY people out in the winter. Usually the TDY out are CAs since most FOs are new hires and bid out as soon as they can, creating an FO shortage. So if you want to stay in LAX, you would probably get senior quickly and not have to worry about involuntary TDY. Sometimes senior people bid TDY because its a nice change of pace and pays a bit more (hotel, rental car, and $1500 perdiem). Florida is busy in the winter, and the west coast is busy in the summer, so the smaller bases are most likely to TDY. FLL, PGD, LAX, OAK.
VBD is different. It's a "base" you can bid where you're always on TDY. A lot of them actually give up their permanent residence and just move around, living in hotels on the company's dime. We call it the homeless base.