Originally Posted by AH1Toaster

I live in Cranford. I roll out of bed 1:15 prior to duty on for early trips. Half of my commute is spent on the bus and getting through security. I've run into the Chief Pilot at the grocery store. Plenty of guys live here and the neighboring towns. I would guess that about 1/3 of the "local" CAs live down on the shore, about a 45 to 1:00 drive. Another 1/3 live out in PA or western NJ. There is a huge benefit to living close local and not really caring about what time a trip starts or ends.

You can look up the trip mix by going to flightsfrom.com and sorting by departure and 737. Everyone will tell you it's the best trip mix in the system.

The seniority magic happens at better than 50% for a local. I've been there since about 1 year and 3 months of seniority. In August (at 45%) I was able to bid all 2-day trips and trade all the overnights I didn't want into day trips. Sept looks to be shaping up the same way. Nobody knows how the trip mix will change with new rules, but... If 2-days are your jam, you will have a leg up if you are willing to start early or end late. The commuters have avoid statements in for those. Being local means you can wait for the weather to come down, and then camp on CCS waiting for EWR to come apart the trips to go premium. I've snagged some ridiculously productive premium turns when EWR falls apart. The FB warriors love to hate EWR, but for a local its a gift that keeps giving.