busdriver12

It sounds to me like you are also trying to decide where to live, but I'm not certain if you already live in Bend right now. If you are looking to move, why Bend? The only really good reasons I can think of that would be worth it, is if you already live there, have family nearby, or plan to retire soon and this will be your last move. Otherwise, it seems like you might be getting yourself into an unnecessarily tough commute.

Don't they only have a few flights out of Bend, on small aircraft, to Seattle and Portland? Do they go anywhere else? Will you be looking at either a long drive to Portland, or at least two legs to go anywhere. And with one of the highest state income tax rates in the US, as the evil rich (which you will be), will you be paying 20-30K/yr just in state taxes? Is the hassle and cost worth it? Maybe not so bad with a single monthly departure, if you were on the 777, but if you had to do this 3-4 times/month? Painful.

Have you considered Seattle or Vancouver WA, that is if you want to stay on the west coast? Major airports, no income taxes, relatively easy commute whether you end up in ANC, MEM or LAX, fair amount of FedEx jumpseats. I know guys who love living in Vancouver as there are good schools, low cost of living, no tax, can drive over the Oregon border to get things tax free, pretty area. Can you hold MD-11 LAX, or is that too senior? Last time I looked, they had plenty of deadheads. Seems that if you live in a commutable town, it wouldn't really matter if you had to change bases, you could still stick with the same aircraft.