Got the 145 flying out of LGA. Am I going to love it or be sitting reserve forever? Do not currently reside near New York so would be commuting.

 

Impossible to predict. You might get lucky with the ramp up in LGA flying. I was on reserve for 18 months in LGA last year though. As a commuter you probably aren’t going to love it.

I had months where as a W. coast commuter I spent 3 nights at home, total, due to commuting difficulty and getting bad reserve shifts (0400 start day one, 2359 release day five) so I used my days off sitting on trans cons.

 

Good lord. I’m impressed because I would have bailed for a west coast company if I had that. You have way more grit than I apparently. Lol

 

I considered leaving many times and obviously do regret coming here, but I’m not a regional pilot. I’m here to do my time and move on, and jumping around doesn’t help.

 

That was a long year!
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

 

Reserve is always a moving target especially when you look at flow movement. LGA is great flying. The PHL flights were super fast, but the rest of the flying is typically about an hour at the shortest (RIC). You’ll also see a lot of GSO, RDU, and ORF. The crews are generally more laid back in my experience, and you will learn a ton flying in that airspace. Study the Whitestone climb.

 

Basically everything about LGA sucks unless you hold a line or live in base. The reserve list gets zeroed out quite frequently.

The difficulty of your commute will greatly effect your enjoyment of working here. After the first 3 months, you will need a crash pad or will use up your 4 commuter hotels pretty quick most months.

We have some of the best flying in the 145 envoy system. a good deal of longer flights. not as many 5 leg days as DFW or ORD. Some decent overnights. But its a crapshoot on reserve.

It all depends on exactly what happens in the next few months with the uptick in flying. Last year around this time we had nearly 120 lines in NY. now its in the 70s. the huge decrease in flying has meant that as seniority ticks up, and lines tick down you break even. This has caused alot of FOs who have been here for 1.5+ years to spend almost all of it on reserve. But on the other hand if we start to get back the flying that AA gave to republic for the summer, and get our projected increases in JFK flying, we should be in good shape to have faster growth here.

If you commute to reserve, you are basically going to hate it. And if thats for 3 months, NBD. if its for 1.5 years or more like alot of us, you will not have a good time. and the $1100 paychecks will be improving a little, to around 13-1400 but its still tough to survive on that if you live in a major metro area.