Originally Posted by
1900luxuryliner
Also; half of the FO side of the seniority list has enough flight time to upgrade, and are chomping at the bit to do so. You would end up below them, probably have to wait to upgrade after them, and probably end up with FMN as your domicile. A few years ago, Lakes made more sense, as the seniority list was moving like wild fire, we were expanding our service exponentially, upgrades happened as soon as you had the flight time, and everyone was hiring. The risk of the investment was worth the probability of a good return. Plus, a few years ago, your domicile would have been a hub that was somewhat commutable. Guys based in FMN are driving to DRO, and jumping out from there, because Lake's service to FMN is inadequate for easy commuting. If you have a stretch of 3 days off, you will, at very least, lose 1 day to commuting, because the FMN lines, historically, have not been very commutable; especially for the junior guys, since everyone in FMN is specifically bidding for a commutable schedule...because noone is crazy enough to actually want to live in that hell hole. I'm not trying to actively discourage anyone from applying. I just want people to know what Lakes is about, and for them to make sure it is the best fit for them, before they apply. For some unique individuals, it may be a great fit. For a lot of people, however, it may not be the best option for them, until this industry really starts moving in a big way again.
When I was based in FMN I pretty much wouldn't go home unless I had 4 days off. Otherwise it just wasn't worth it because I'd basically lose 2 days to the commute back and forth. Like luxuryliner said, Lakes is the only boat into/out of FMN and our service is unreliable and those flights are often times quite full. To use our commuter clause, we had to list on 2 flights that would get us there in time for our show which meant showing really early on the day before your trip. I never missed a commute but I didn't do it very much. If things start moving again, this may not be such a bad place to be. I guess the flip side of that is if you get in now and things eventually start moving again, you'll have the seniority and flight time to upgrade as soon as possible and will have a bunch of people under you. I wonder if it would be helpful to start a thread where Lakers describe what illegal or unethical thing is done to them by the company each day. I think it would be very eye-opening for a lot of people.