Pilots just love telling anyone who didn't do it their way that they are not just wrong, but immorally and dangerously wrong

 

Yeah, I woke up on the troll side of the bed this morning too. This is probably just my displaced anger over yet another paycheck being wrong. Carry on all.

But seriously there's no way to make this work? Consider yourself a cargo ACMI based in SYD and getting lucky with a 2 week on 2 week off schedule with known stops at home. That's a dream for some.

 

I wasn't trolling you. I'm referring to the guy a few posts back who is outraged that anyone even asked if it was possible and to be a man and tell his wife to deal

 

Applying our own personal logic to other peoples' situation won't always give us the full picture. A friend of mine from my 135 days called me a year or so ago asking for a rec letter. He lives in Anchorage and was flying the 747 at Atlas based in ANC. I told him I would be happy to but to seriously consider the implication of commuting for your entire life, especially when getting hired at the back of our wave. He said he did and it was what he wanted, so I sent it in. He's SEA73N now and happy as a clam. Everyone has their own unique circumstances and what they prioritize in their life and career.

 

I don't think it's that. Everyone assumes they're smarter than the average bear, they can beat the odds, and they can be the outlier that succeeds. By that same token, there's certainly no harm in people stepping up to say "hey, yea, that might not be the best idea. Technically it might work, but have you considered the long term effects of XYZ".

As the demotivator says "If you try to beat the odds, make sure you can survive the odds beating you."

 

Absolutely. There are plenty of people here who have said that. I wouldn't do it but it's physically possible. It's the people like Bahamas that say he needs to just tell his wife what to do and grow a pair and that even considering it is dangerous that I have a problem with

 

Ya, I'm all for living wherever they want and where they're most happy. I think in situations like these, most just want the pilot to go in eyes wide open. I couldn't even stand the thought of doing a DTW-LGA o DTW-ORD commute, so I came to Delta when offered a job. Others don't mind commuting from across the globe. Biggest thing they'd need to look at is a no bs, accounting of home much time away from family this would cause. Include the occasional canceled flight or missed connection and more nights in hotels not getting paid, etc... I did it for an "easy" commute and the extra time away was staggering. If the OP is also weighing the the idea of moving to a base, it's worth accounting for all the extra time you can spend at home that living in base allows. But if the family decides it's still worth it, then great, enjoy it Europe. I've flown with a few guys who do it and they're as happy as can be. Of course one lived about 20 min from AMS and was a 330 pilot, so that's as good as it gets.

 

The problem with the internet forums is someone posts some thing "Hey, I commute from the Arctic to Antarctic and make it work, and it is an amazing quality of life, no taxes and all the Arctic penguins you can eat!". So people buy into it without really doing some important due diligence, and they find out that the person doing the commute has a very wealthy spouse that is Antarctic Royalty, so they really don't need to work and only commute twice during the Antarctic summer solstice, there are taxes, they're just called "compulsory environmental impact fees" and there aren't, in fact, any penguins in the Arctic.

 

That and people hear what they want to.

What I say: "I live in base in ATL"

What they hear: "I live in the absolute most dangerous crap hole you hear about in the news within city limits. I love crime!"

 

LOL, so true. You're a DTW local, how do you survive life on 8 mile?