Deciding on Base
 

I live about 40-45 min WNW of ORD and I am about 1 hr 15min from MKE. What deciding factors should be looking at when/if deciding on the two for base choice. I know it might be a moot point if I don't either as a choice but... I'm hoping for 1 of the 2.

I've been told to add another 20-30 minutes due to parking in the employee lot and shuttle delays at ORD. What's it like at MKE?

What other factors might I be looking at when faced with the decision?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Don’t forget MKE is a out station base. Early shows (0430-0600) on day 1 and late releases on day 4 (post 1600).

I would recommend MKE. I live in Chicago and have no intention of bidding Chicago. In MKE you can have greater bidding power. The only thing that I would not recommend is the MKE Airport Reserve. That 3+hr drive and not flying much will wear you down fast.

So if you’re the young guy in class, do ORD RSV till you can hold a line in MKE? Something like that.

MKE has some pretty early shows (pre 6 am) and late ends. ORD shuttle can take up to 30 minutes from the lot depending on the how the buses are running. Historically MKE has been more jr than Chicago, so your overall movement will be a little better.

I will not be the young guy. Turned 39 last week....

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

You’d be surprised sometimes.....

But in that case, either reserve would be good. Pending on if you care more about bidding power (MKE) to get days off that you need, or shorter drive (ORD). But I’ll definitely take a line in MKE then holding off to get a line in ORD.

And it’s a 10 min walk or 3 min shuttle ride from the lot to the terminal in MKE.

And it’s only a 4 minute walk (10 at the most) from the front of the terminal to the gate.

By the time you factor in the employee bus those commute times are roughly the same. That being said, ORD trips are going to give you more time at home, even with your lower bidding power. You’ll be showing up at 7-8am on day one at earliest and ending at 5pm at latest on day four. Milwaukee you’ll be consistently showing at 5am and ending close to midnight on day 4.

Ide take ORD res over MKE res, MKE line over ORD reserve and ORD line over MKE line.

So I could bid any of those choices if/when they are available?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

You can bid in that exact order, and as your seniority allows you to move to the next thing on your list. So your bid might be any captain. Then ord line, mke line, ord res, mke reserve, iad line, iad res, then cae line and reserve. When you get hired you might only have the seniority to hold cae reserve which you will be stuck with for a month or 2, then once you have enough seniority you will jump up to mke reserve then ord reserve, then mke line and finally after about a year ord line.

Yep, once you have flica set up you will arrange your "permanent bid" including all 16 (Captain too) options. The computer then goes down the line from top to bottom and determines which one you can hold nearest the top of your list. Whenever we have a vacancy (almost monthly), the computer will automatically go through this process again and see if you're able to hold something higher up your list. I set my permanent bid in ground school and now the computer has automatically moved me from CAE res to ORD res to ORD line with me ever having to change anything.

You will make a lot more money here than most/all other regional airlines. Hidden ways we are paid.

Can you elaborate on this?

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious...

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Truth..DBB+rigs+block or better/segment+100% DH+cancellation+line bidding+premium pay+min day

Another words, we get paid a lot of soft time with Duty and trip rigs, min day, block or better, 100% DH and cancellation pay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Elaboration. Junior manned and forced to work on your scheduled days off or else....

I'm doing a little research project for the dreaded bachelor's degree. Which is the junior base these days?

Thanks dudes.

Captain or FO?

I'm a new hire, got MKE in training, but my class had at least one person in every basy as an FO.

They messed up and accidentally assigned me a CA position (I'm not eligible for an upgrade yet) , and I was assigned to CAE, which was last on my list.

So, for FO, it looks like you can hold any base almost immediately, captain has CAE as most junior.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the replies!

How junior is IAD on the FO side?

Last vacancy had a bunch of new FOs go to IAD. Seems to have gone junior over CAE at this point. I was in the top half of my class and got MKE, bottom half got IAD.

Yeah it’s weird that IAD is trending junior recently on the FO side. CAE seems to be attracting folks who want to live where it warm and the seniority level is beginning to reflect that.

Out of 11 in my class 5 wanted CAE, none got it. The one guy that wanted IAD got it

People in my class (start date in October) got either MKE or IAD). Thankfully I live in the DC area [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I want to have ORD as a base, is Air Wis a good place to go? Honest to God all I want is to have an Chicago base lol.

You can get ORD relatively quickly on the FO side. CA side it’s still pretty senior, although by the time you’re ready to upgrade that may have changed. The drive to MKE isn’t bad either.

Can get ORD reserve within a month or two and a line around 6-7 months.

CA reserve is around 2 years and bottom CA line holder is around 5 years.

For now

The last vacancy had line-holders go to ord at the 10-11 month range.i know one that was in that award that was waiting and it took them 11 months to finally get ord as a line holder.

I'm in training and my initial base award is MKE but I'm 1 number away from reserve FO at ORD.