Originally Posted by TipTip35
okay, so I understand pilots who commute to where their trip orginates are to be big boys and get there on their own but surely all those commuters (who arent in driving distance) arent buying airline tickets are they? are you able to ride for free on other airlines to get to where your trip starts??
No, they're not. I live away from Memphis and I have to off-line jumpseat on a NW flight the day prior to my trip or reserve start. There are three flights a day from VPS to MEM, 0730, 1120, 1640. If my trip leaves MEM at 2200, I need to get one of those flights. I usually try the 1120 first so I have the 1640 as a backup. If I don't make it on one of those flights, I'm screwed. It really sucks, because you lose a day at home on the front end and the backend. If my trip or reserve ends in MEM, then I can't get home until the next day.
If you live in a city that FDX services, then you're eligible for company jumpseats. The big difference here is that if you have a RESERVED jumpseat (yes, there is competition for them in some cities) and the flight cancels, that's a get out of jail free card b/c you are considered to be "staging" from there. So, if your trip leaves MEM at 0300, you can catch the 2200 flight out of DFW, arrive MEM around 2400 or so and have plenty of time to make your trip. On the backend, if your trip ends in MEM at around midnight, you can catch the 0300 flight from MEM to DFW, be home in bed by 0600. All things considered, if you don't have a compelling reason to live somewhere other than MEM, like a guard/reserve job, it's your hometown, the wife loves it, etc etc, then you should strongly consider moving to MEM. Some guys hate it, others love it. I've done plenty of househunting in G'town and C'ville and they seem like great places. You can be home every single night. I'm going to move myself, as soon as I'm done with my reserve job. Whenever that is.