Otterbox I know you hate our reserve rules and if you are a commuter our rules are definitely worse than the competition. Lord know we need improvements in the work rules for reserves, I doubt anyone would argue that. That being said, being a local dramatically changes the suffering. Getting converted to SC when you live an hour from the airport just means you have to take your cell phone with you when you leave the house. I do that anyway. It also means you will have to cut back on your day drinking, but again I have been trying to do that as well. It doesn't cost you a hotel and will hopefully even pay you a little more in the theoretical new contract.

As a local, picking up a SC to avoid a trip you don't want can be a very effective tactic to maximize your nights in your own bed. When you get a line and assuming we get a contract some day, you also have the advantage of picking up premium that comes available on shorter notice. Commuters are often unable to do this as the premium trip is leaving too soon to commute in for the trip.

I have done literally years on reserve as a local and while I mostly bid lines, I will bid reserve to get the schedule I want ( IE bidding HDOs over Christmas when I am not senior enough to hold a line with it off) So, If given a choice between commuting to one of AA/DL/UA or living in base for one of the carriers, there is no amount of anything else that matters, you go with the one that has a base where you live. You will make more money and spend more nights in your own bed by enormous amounts when you live local.

If you are a new hire at DL but are going to live in DEN then you switch to UA - period! If you are a new hire at UA but are going to live in ATL then you switch to DL - period. These times allow this "switching" to happen very quickly so there is not usually much loss of seniority. This is not a statement on an overall comparison of the two companies, it is just common sense.