FLYBOYMATTHEW

SpatialD-

I'll start with the basics. When you commute, you ride space available. You may or may not be eligible to ride in the cockpit, depending on the agreements (CASS) your airline has with other airlines. Let's assume that the airline you work for is not part of the CASS system. This means you need a seat in the cabin. You will need to get listed on a particular flight ahead of time, and when you check in at the gate, you will be in line with bumped passengers, flight attendants, rampers, gate agents, management, other pilots, and pretty much anyone else who gets a paycheck from an airline. Sometimes you get on the first flight you try, other times you spend all day trying. Today when I checked in for my commuting flight home, I was number 41 on the standby list. Needless to say, I didn't get on that one. It largely depends on where you are commuting from and where you are going, and the frequency of flights between the two cities. Now repeat this cycle at least twice every time you want to go home.

The crash pad comes in when you finally get to your base. Because you never know what flight you will get on, you will often have to commute to your base the day before you work. You usually get what you pay for in a crash pad. If you want your own bed, you pay more. If you want your own room, you pay alot more. Most have a couple of beds per room, sometimes even a couple of bunk beds. Some have "hot beds", where you find an open bed and that's where you sleep. And don't forget, you will probably need a commuter car to get to the crash pad.

When you are on reserve, you usually have to be able to get to work in an hour or hour and a half (depending on the company) when scheduling calls. The regular reserve at the company I work for starts at 0800 and goes until 2200, but I have also heard of 24 hour reserve where you are on call for up to 6 days in a row (no time for beer). Some companies also utilize a "hot" or "ready" reserve, where you need to be at the airport all day in your uniform ready to go at the drop of a hat when scheduling calls.

Sound like fun yet? Hopefully this doesn't deter you from making a career move, but you should know what you're getting into. I think I could finally get a consensus on APC if I stated unequivocally that commuting sucks. On a junior schedule at a regional, you'll be lucky to get a string of more than a couple of days off in a row, so it gets tough. In my opinion, it's still better to live where you want to play, and not necessarily where you work. A lot of people make it work, but you have to decide if it will work for you.

Hope this helps, but don't lose sight of the big picture. GET THE JOB FIRST, then worry about the details. You will have to learn to be very flexible and resourceful at times in this industry.