Airline Pilot Central Forums - Downtown layovers

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennisguru (Post 3229527)

As was mentioned by someone else I think the bigger issue is the 12 hour cutoff. If I’ve got close to 12 hours to grab a bite to eat and wind down and get some decent sleep the last thing I want to do is waste 30 minutes each way on a drive. I don’t know of anyone that is going out and hitting the trails or seeing the sights in such a short window. The FAs have 15 I think which is too far the other way. I think 13 or 13.5 is a nice happy medium. It’d be nice to be able to work with the company on some city-specific carve outs, including the beach cities as others have mentioned.

Where this really comes into play is with the optimizer going full throttle I’ve seen many 4 day trips on the 717 where every layover is less than 13 hours. That’s just exhausting in and of itself plus depending on where your staying you’re losing a ton of previous layover time in transport.

I have to agree with this 100%. I absolutely do NOT want to do away with downtown hotels for longer layovers. That said, there are definitely some places where it just doesn't make sense to go downtown for less than 14 hours because of transit time. And there are others where we are driving 30 mins each way for 11 hour layovers because the company doesn't want to split the market. I'm thinking specifically of Ft. Meyers. I've had multiple 11ish hour layovers there where we drive all the way to downtown/"Old Town". The hotel is great and the area looks awesome. Lots to eat, drink, see and do... But I wouldn't know because I have never seen it in the daylight. Totally unsat for 11 hours. For less than 12 or 13 hours, put me at a Hampton Inn or Hyatt Place by the airport (with private transport at least TO the hotel). At least we'll get a free breakfast out of the deal.