Which aircraft is best if commuting to ATL
 

I've noticed quite a variety of aircraft and base assignments for new hire classes in other threads. If I'm lucky enough to be sitting there one day at Delta Indoc and I had my choice of ATL-based aircraft to choose from, which aircraft do you think offers better trips for commuters? Primarily looking at later check-in times and earlier check-out times so I could avoid hotels/crashpads as much as possible. Obviously seniority and reserve/line holder play a part in this. Thanks for the info!

787, do not commute.

Right now the M88 will give you a commutable line within 2 months. Delta does a pretty good job in my opinion of making commutable trips. Most on both ends and the rest on one end. Also reserve isn't bad because day 1 will always be 10am or later. Then if you bid for your golden days properly you can be off early on the last day if not assigned anything. Combine that with booking the jumpseat and Delta is a lot more commuter friendly than I thought going in.

Pile on...
Will be commuting from IAD (or DCA) - seems NYC commute may easier? But looks like possibility of IAD overnights for some ATL lines. I start indoc next week. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.


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88 ATL, you'll be senior faster (allowing for commutable lines quickest) and cover only one airport with usually better weather dependability, plus when you do have to get a room for the night, it's $50 in ATL vs $150+ in NYC.
Otherwise, 7ER or 717 in ATL for same reasons given above.

Also as an observation, NYC seems to have more noncommutable trips as a % of the bid package compared to ATL and more 1 day non-commutable trips that go to junior people (you won't be able to even touch that in ATL if you wanted due to the locals) and throw in the possible commute to LGA/JFK/EWR it's no contest in QOL for a commuter.

ClubFootedPilot--NYC is an easy commute from DCA, so long as you report after 0900 and release NLT 1700. The shuttle only flies 6am to 7pm, so if your report or release times are outside of those windows, you're spending a night in NYC. As a new guy, you'll be on reserve, and so you'll have to get a crashpad or plan on spending a lot of money on hotels. That being said, you'll get seniority quicker in New York, probably. Even after you get enough seniority to hold a line, your trips will most likely be uncommutable on at least one end. Very early reports (0500 or 0530) or late releases (2200 or later) are common in NY.

Pay attention to what airports your desired aircraft typically departs from. Remember that the NY base covers all three NY airports, LGA, JFK and EWR. Getting around between airports in NY without a car either takes a fair bit of time via public transportation or a large amount of money (esp. from NY to Newark). You won't have this problem in Atlanta.

There are lots of flights every day to ATL from DCA, and several from IAD. An additional benefit is that you have very late flights from ATL back up to DC. This gives you additional flexibility in bidding for commutable trips. You can finish pretty late in ATL and still have time to catch the last flight up to DC. The same is true of DTW, though there are fewer flights between DC and DTW. ATL-DC flights are nearly always full, so you'll be in the jumpseat a lot.

There are always seats on the shuttle to NY. In 2 1/2 years of DC to NY commuting, I have not made it on only one flight, which meant waiting until the next one an hour later. I took the train home once because weather cancelled all the shuttle flights.

I commute DC to NY, currently on the 7ER so I have to get to JFK. Weekdays there are only 4 flights to JFK from DCA, and they're regionals, so no jumpseat reservations. These flights nearly always go out full, but also have lots of no show passengers. Cabs back and forth between LGA and JFK run $20-35, and you can nearly always find someone to split that with you, esp. from LGA to JFK.

I still get some noncommutable (on one end) trips in NY. I have a free place to stay up there, and keep an airport car in NY. If I had to get a crashpad, or pay for hotels, I'd be looking hard at DTW or ATL instead.

Your circumstances may vary.

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Big categories have the most variety, and usually the most commutable trips. The 88 in ATL is largest, for now, and will remain so for a while. 7er would be great, but only once you hold a line...and that's going to take a while.

I've looked at NYC some (I have a bad commute so I'm always looking for another angle to make my life better), and all domestic fleets had a large amount of early report times and late checkout times. Probably too early for a DC commute, but it's still worth looking at.

You will hear an endless stream of "Just don't commute" from folks. They're right, but they also don't know your situation. Do what you need to do.

What are the 7ER trips like out of ATL? Line and reserve? Fewer/longer trips seems better for me than several short trips.

On reserve, the short call days will be frequent for you. I'm not the best resource in regards to the schedules of lineholders out of there. But especially as a commuter, seniority is pretty important, and the ER is going to be a slower grind to being a lineholder and that magical top 50% than the other narrowbodies.