DTW Commuters?
 

I'm a new hire that starts class in Nov. I currently live about 25 mins from DTW with no plans to move as we enjoy being near family.

I'm looking for advice from other DTW commuters, or anyone else for that matter, on which domicile has the easiest commute from DTW. From what I can see from Passrider, CLT looks to be good with 6-7 AA flights daily (roughly every 2-3 hours) with 2-3 of them being mainline Airbus flights (multiple jumpseats). Are the loads conducive to commuting?

I realize that I won't be able to hold CLT for about 12 months. Until then, how is the commute to the junior bases?

Cheers!

DTW to LGA/JFK is a pretty easy commute.

People live in DTW?

On purpose?

(Joke :) )

Welcome! Any city that is mainline served would be an easy commute with our jumpseat reservation system.

Yes.

Best system in the county!

(Don't put it past APA to drop a big turd in that punch bowl as well.)

Spirit has a DTW-PHL in the middle of the day that usually has seats. Just a few doors down from the AA gates.

The good news is you can move around pretty easily now so you can change if you don't end up liking the commute. Like Al said, mainline service is best, and Airbus is best. After that, I look at what is the earliest time I can actually arrive at base, and what is the latest flight home. The bigger this window the better for getting commutable trips, both as a line holder and on long call reserve. Length of flight would be the next consideration for me. Then Look at the crash pad situation IF your base doesn't meet the above standards very well, or IF you'll be sitting short call reserve. PHL is a great base for crash pads, they are reasonable and you can ride the bus to them.

Another thing to think about if you sit long call, is time zones. Trips for the next day are usually (90% of the time) given out by 1600 home base time. I live in MT and am based in ET. So by 1400 I usually know if I have a trip. Then I can catch the 1600 flight in.

Then of course, you need to factor in seniority at some point, since it buys you QOL.

Awesome info! Thanks fellas.

Besides LGA, PHL is junior and easy.

Plus only covering one airport and crashpads are cheap, easy, and plentiful.