SIUav8er

exactly. name ONE other job/career that "allows" employees to live basically wherever they want! As much as I empathize with commuters and despise crash pads, its still a choice to commute.

rickair7777

But it's also the "industry standard". Airlines enjoy having workers in the costly major metro areas without necessarily having to pay wages appropriate to the local COL (especially at regionals). Don't forget, FA's, mechs and gate agents often commute too.

That could all change, but it would take time for the dust to settle and the industry to accommodate. JS access almost got removed for good after 9/11... it was the airlines, not the unions that saved that one.

If about half of pilots commute, then some significant percentage would simply quit rather than move to base... commuters often have life-circumstances (child custody, parents to care for, need family nearby for child care, wife makes big bucks in non-portable job, etc).

Airlines don't want to find out how that would play out. They've already learned millenials won't live in their car and heat their food in the mini-mart microwave just for 121 SIC.

iahflyr

I think you would see the opposite. If airlines didn’t have pilots commute, you would see more pilots picking up open time which reduces the total cost of staffing, would require less reserves for when commuters miss their flights, and would end up with a happier and less jaded workforce.

Then again, if the Colgate 3407 pilot commuting in on a red eye and being fatigued prior to their crash didn’t place additional restrictions on commuting, I cannot see what would.

queue

Oil workers. I have a few roughneck friends that live anywhere they want, they get paid airline tickets and housing.

Even if there wasn't another industry, literally *everything* is negotiable. You give employers the privilege of your labor in exchange for compensation or benefits that assist you in giving them your labor. That's why some companies lend people company cars. If you're never done anything other than be a pilot, you probably wouldn't know. There is *nothing* stopping commuter aid like funded hotel rooms and positive space from becoming the norm. If a CEO wanted to do what is best for the company, he could make a choice to make it easier for employees to get to work like offering positive space vs. standby and friendly commuter and dependability policies. It builds intangible strengths like loyalty. The problem is that most airline pilots are defeated by exploitative employers in an industry of vultures so they have learned to accept moldy breadcrumbs. You're accustomed to begging. If you want to live in an industry of indentured servitude, you can with your beliefs. Don't have sympathy for airlines - look out for your own team first, don't be a shill for those who have exploited you for so long. Professional pilots must demand high standards because under our capitalistic system, it's our job to look out for ourselves. You're a highly skilled, highly educated professional, significantly more so than any CEO with a worthless MBA and you must demand and expect proportionately to your worth.

Here's what happens when you don't do your job well: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ball-of-flames

Virtually no one at an airline has that level of responsibility except a professional pilot.

Q

JayRalstonSmith

4 CMs in total. One was an inflight CM who was retired NYFD and was on the pile for weeks following 9/11. He was a good guy. I've flown with him a few times. We all know about Kevin. The third was a drug and alcohol testing coordinator in Long Island City on the HR team, and the fourth was an inflight CM who had been on leave since 2018.