cfier

My wife and I are contemplating a move to Phoenix. Does anyone do one of these commutes? Just curious about how hard it is on the body clock.

Thanks!

NoDeskJob

Why not ask or attempt PHX to LAX? Lax is rapidly becoming a junior base for us.

cfier

I'm seat locked right now so those two are my best options (NY for seniority, SLC for distance) until I can switch airplanes or they open an Airbus base in LA.

cni187

Aggie94

I live in Phoenix and have been commuting to SLC for the last 7 months or so. I was doing a PHX-LAX commute before that for a year and a half and it was much tougher--all RJs and a lot of competition. PHX-SLC has been much easier with mainline flights and jumpseats available. Decent number of flights every day. You do have to watch out for certain times of the year, such as spring training in Phoenix, as with any other commute.

No issue for the body clock for PHX-SLC. Half the year there is no time difference and the other half there's a 1 hour difference.

Denny Crane

Don't discount a PHX to SEA commute. There are quite a few doing it too.

Denny

Bleeds On

I did both NYC and SLC. Basically no competition to NYC. My seniority 320B is 50% in NYC and 85% in SLC so take that for what it’s worth. With SLC I rarely get the jumpseat unless I have my phone set for noon Mecca. AA and SWA have been great, though. Still, lots of commuters. From the little I’ve seen, LAX is even worse. Maybe if we ever do mainline PHX-LAX will that improve.

BeatNavy

I commute from PHX-JFK for JetBlue. I usually get on my first attempt, though sometimes I have to sit in the jumpseat. Except for the jetblue redeye, it’s all 737s with the exception of the occasional delta 757. I personally hate riding in 737s, especially for 5+ hours, 6-8 times a month. Depending on the time of year, there are 5-8 flights a day...1 jetblue, 2-3 Delta, and 3-4 AA. Additionally, AA occasionally has weight restrictions on their 737s (it’s happened both directions, but more so going west in the winter) and I’ve been left behind in NY because of this. Once there was a weight restriction leaving PHX in the summer and I couldn’t get on. I’ve never had that issue on delta either direction, but I’m on AA a lot more so maybe it happens. Going home, I’ve had to go through IND once and LAX once in almost 2 years of doing it, otherwise I have gotten on my first or second direct attempt. The last flight of the day is the jetblue 7:20ish pm flight, and I’ve never had to take the JS on that flight...it usually has seats. If I don’t make that flight, going to LAX later is an option, and then taking the first morning flight out of there.

Spring training time, summer, and Christmas seem to be the worst. At least on AA, Tuesdays and Saturdays seem like the best days to do it (according to some gate agents I talked to and corroborated by my experience).

Overall it’s not terrible...usually easy to get on. It’s just long. We have a lot of JetBlue guys who do the commute, a handful of regional guys, only a handful of delta guys that I’ve ever seen, and a handful of AA guys (but they were switching to LAX or PHX), from my limited experience. There are usually a lot of standbys on both AA and DL, but not that many fighting for the flight deck.

cfier

Thanks for the info! I'm considering staying in ny for seniority at least for now. I'll be about 60% there vs 90% in SLC. Hoping I can group my trips together so I only have to commute two or three times per month.

ConfCodeCOOL

I currently work for Compass and the PHX-SEA route we usually have a jumpseater almost every time I operate it. Just something to keep in mind... I think it's one of the more difficult commutes.