Big E 757

I've been looking at the bid packages for the 717 in DTW and ATL because I've been prognosticating (my dad's favorite word) a Captain bid. I spent 4 years on the mad dog right seat years ago and didn't know if I wanted to kill myself like that again. Surprisingly, both of those bases had very few 5 leg days in their trips. The most common 4 day trip had 3 legs on day 1 and 4, 2 legs on one of the middle days, and 4 legs on the other middle day. I was also surprised that ATL had very few early morning sign ins on day 1. Looking at the open time, almost all of the trips are very easily commutable.

Now NYC could be a completely different animal. They do some shuttle flying, which are usually 4 leg days but when you escape the shuttle to see America, there could be some 5 leg days involved. I haven't looked.

Good luck! And welcome aboard.

mountainmojo

I'm going to be down there for the next month for training. Anyone have a line on cheap rental cars? Are there off-airport places that avoid all the airport taxes? any other ideas for cheap transportation? I'm going to be staying about 20 miles south of the airport, so I need some kind of daily commuter.


Thanks

MikeF16

I did 10 months in NYC and just got to ATL on the 717. While we have 5 leg days that certainly isn't the entire bid package. I don't know anything about the DTW bid package, LAX seems to have a higher % of 5 leg days than anybody else. A lot of days look good from a distance, then when you examine them closely you notice that 3 hours sit in Boston on top of another 2 hours to tour LGA. Our schedulers are very good at maximizing your day while minimizing your pay. I don't think I flew a 5 leg day in NYC for the last 6 months I was there. That said, I flew plenty of 3 leg days that went TPA-LGA-TPA-LGA -- that's way worse than 5 legs of Boston shuttle since the seat is so uncomfortable. And no, that is not an exaggeration. Lots of captains own their own seat pads and commute with those honking things the seat sucks so badly. I'm sure FOs do as well, I just never see them .

NYC has a LOT of early reports and has to cover all 3 airports. Bid packages vary but in June or July we had 35% of our trips out of EWR. Keep your JB badge if you can since DAL doesn't provide a ride to the airport, maybe you could still get a free ride to JFK with your old company . Just a very rough guess, but I'd estimate 20% of the trips aren't commutable on either end, 70% are commutable on 1 end, and 10% are commutable on both (obviously the bid packages change, and it also depends where you're commuting to/from). There is a thriving crash pad scene in NYC so while it sucks, it is doable.

You will probably get a line in your 1st month off OE in NYC, I'm still on reserve in ATL, I was top 15% in NYC when I left (physically moved to Atlanta or I'd have never AE'd). Commuting to reserve blows, with the one caveat that the 717 is so poorly manned, you typically know your trip by 10am the day prior while you're on reserve so you probably won't have to spend too much time in a pad even if you are a reserve. I never volunteered to fly and I hit reserve guarantee with 80:27 by the 20th, I only sat SC once and I knew about my sign-in 10 hours before I had to be there. TBH my schedule was probably better than 75% of the line holders, I got really lucky with the trips I was assigned. I'd be amazed if next month is as good.

Genzie

Great info on 717, thx. I'll be livin' the dream by January!

Dash8driverMike

Thanks for the excellent and detailed info!

GogglesPisano

I'll be in 717 upgrade training soon. What's the APC secret handshake?

duece12345

CAPTAINPCL

Give Rent a Wreck a call, I found them to be the cheapest at 600.00 for a medium size car for 30 days, they'll deliver it to the airport. Also, don't forget if you're not from GA, you have to have full coverage car insurance otherwise you'll need to get the insurance through them.

https://www.rentawreck.com/cheap-car-rental-marietta-GA.htm

Paok

Rental cars are super cheap at the Atl airport. I usually go thru Usaa but sometimes there are companies that can beat the typical usaa budget, hertz Avis deals

Elliot

costcotravel.com

Cheapest rental car prices I've found to date. If you don't have a Costco membership, sign-up for their base $55 membership and you'll recoup that cost in one rental agreement.