Commute or work where you live?
 

I wanted to see how many 121 pilots commute vs living in base. How long have you been doing so (commuting)? Mainline or regional? Any comments you would like to add.

Commuted for 2 yrs and it sucked
Lived in base for 1 yr and awesome
Commuted again for 1 year it sucked
Living in base for past 2.5 yrs and awesome

Pretty much this.

Commuted for 9 years and it could become stressful at times. I've lived within driving distance the past 4 years and my quality of life has improved tremendously.

Lived in base 7 years: Good but weather in Northern base sucked (I'm a Florida boy)
Commuted for 9 years: Sucked
Home based for 8 years: Awesome!
Commuted Coast to Coast for 1 year: Sucked big time!
Living in base again: Priceless!

Lived in base for 6 months. Commuted for 5 years to 9 different bases, 7 of those not by choice and most of them a 2 leg commute or drive. I was miserable.

Commuting sucks.

I guess you could call it commuting... I am home based :)

commuting is what you make it. is the juice worth the squeeze. do you have a spouse and kids you enjoy spending time with? do you have nowhere to be but have a sweet living situation out of base that's too good to pass up? commuting is never a black and white question, at least for most people.

Commuting is awful. Two leg commutes are worse, and not sustainable for very long (for me).

That said, picking up and moving a whole family to base, especially if it's not a city you wanted to live anyway, then having to move (or commute) when the base shuts down would be worse.

Keep in mind that bases close and reduce in size often enough to worry about it.

Dreaming of living in base, someday. It's a whole different career when you do.

Those with families, did your wife & children ever visit you on occasion as well as you commuting home?

No. It's hard enough getting myself to work with JS privileges.

My family has roots and is happy where we live. I am not willing to uproot all that just so I don't have to commute. Everyone has to do what is best for them and their family.

Depends on where you commute from, if your a 2 leg guy who commutes in RJ's only then it's suicide. I commute from Florida to JFK for a few years now, it's really easy minus the occasional storm during the winter. But yes one day in life I would love to live in base...

Just curious what you all think. I live in Frederick, MD. It is about 55 minutes to BWI, 55 minutes to Dulles, and 55 minutes to Reagan National. Aside from the high cost of living, would you say I have a golden ticket for an area to live in base for? I have a lot of options.

Thanks

I commute. It's a 40 minute flight, and for the most part I don't compete with other pilots. I ride on the flight deck once every six months, and most of the time I have my own exit row.

That said, I'd rather teabag my nuts in boiling hot oil than commute if given the choice.

Live in base.

I start training at Republic in a few weeks and out of the possible bases I think I'm going to try for ORD and PHL (not sure which ones are junior). From my understanding, ORD should be rather easy to get a line because that base is just starting to open up. Any idea which airlines I can list on? From my understanding, I will have United, American, and US Airways benefits right? I read something that American charges to list on a flight? Do the others? I will have to commute to base for a little bit as I have a lease until next spring.

Thanks!

I've been out of 121 since 2008, but unless something has changed, no airline will charge you to jumpseat. American used to limit the # of jumps eaters to the number of jump seats, ie on an MD80, only one jumps eater even if there are 5 open seats in the cabin. They may have changed that though.

My family and I have decided we will live wherever we are based. To me, no place is nice enough to spend an extra second away from them. Plus I can't handle the stress... There are of course many circumstances that I can see why one would want or need to commute though. You just have to make the best decision for you.

Commuted 2 years, single... Wasn't too bad
Lived in base 4 years, married.... Awesome
Commuted 8 months, married.... Horrible
Commuted but still drove to work (3.5hrs one way) 1 year, married... At least I'm control
Living in base 8 months, married & baby boy... Very awesome

Best of luck!