Speaking with a friend who works there and asking questions on these boards, it seems like (once you have a line) that the line improvement mechanism that XJT has in place allows you to do a LOT of manipulation to get a more desirable schedule, even if you’re fairly junior. It’s all subject to part 117 rules and company coverage requirements, but I believe their union contract has some minimum amount of flexibility that must be built in to the schedule to allow for this type of trading. That same friend showed me a bid package and I went through every single pairing. I’d say well over 50% of the pairings were same day commutable based on my hometown airline schedule and the company commuter clause.

Of course, all of that is subject to change, but I would think based on the current challenge of hiring new pilots at the regionals, it shouldn’t change for the worse, barring another economic downturn (which will happen sometime). And the previous poster is probably right, I’m probably being optimistic. But with over half of the airline pilots in the country commuting, you’d think if it was just horrific (as many say), that people just wouldn’t do it. That’s why it’s pretty much impossible to know until you do it, but if you do and it sucks, you’re stuck. I should probably just grow a pair and make the jump (but I’m skeeered).