Originally Posted by
crewdawg
All for people living wherever because there are tons of valid reasons for that. However, what you're saving in taxes, you lose in time at home. I get that it's worth it for you, but it certainly isn't free. When I was looking at leaving for DAL, I added up the min time (no backup flights) I'd spend commuting over a 30+ year career and the time lost at home was staggering. This doesn't even account for all the time I spend sitting SC at home., nor did it account for hotels/crash pads. Again, not saying it's not worth it because it's hard to put a price on living near family or keeping the spouse happy. But to say your saving $20k by living in a particular spot, isn't accounting for the true cost.
Ya, that's the tough part. I'm all for improving the language to make our commuter pilot policy better, but I personally can't see us expending so much capital on PSC. We'd be better off just getting a bigger pay bump and buying tickets to go to/from work. Everyone benefits in that case.
You often can't put a real value on lots of intangibles. In a vacuum, sure, leaving at 6a and not getting home until the evening day 4 looks to be a lot of time away from home. At the regionals, I lived in base and that's exactly what my schedule was anyways. People who choose not to commute often use that excuse as the reason to uproot their families. It works for many and that's great. But it's frustrating to us when people who made that decision often paint their decisions as the superior one and talk down to those that didn't. "You lose out on millions over a career! You spend so much time away from your family just to get to work!! You sacrifice so much!"
All of that is only part of a very complex equation and it's not as easy as money or time. I would never live in ATL or SLC because doing it is selfish of me. While they might see me a few more hours a week if I'm driving to work versus flying, I strip my spouse and kids away from their family and friends and jobs and favorite places 24/7/365.