Best Commute Questions
 

I am starting class soon at ExpressJet and need some advice. I live about 1 hour from ATL and 1 hour to CHA. I will be requesting TYS obviously as my first choice base but know it’s likely not going to happen for a while. Is IAH or ORD easier to get to from ATL? I also can get to ORD from CHA but not IAH. The CHA airport said in a news article they’re trying to get IAH added to daily service.

So let’s hear all the advice and thanks in advance for helping.

ATL-ORD has a bunch of flights, on a lot of carriers. Don’t know how many other guys try to make that commute, though. With Skywest having bases in both ord and atl, could be some competition for seats. Someone that makes that commute would need to chime n.

I think we have our 175s operating ATL to ORD so that adds priority. Keep in mind a lot of ASA guys have ATL blood. So their seniority might make it impossible. Just food for thought, not sure how the commute is for certain. Good thing about ORD is that AA, UA and FP are based there which give you options.

I’m still inclined to say ORD, but this might be changing now that the 175 base is opening/expanding. We shall see this month and next.

Thanks for the information! I'll be in class in March so I will revisit this thread to see how it shapes up.

Move if you can.

I'd rather be reserve in base than a commuting lineholder.

If you've never commuted, you'll get it once you do it a while.

Unfortunately moving is not an option right now. I am remaining hopeful I can get TYS quickly (if it stays open) because its 2:15 hours from my driveway to the airport.

If any ATL commuters are out there I'd love to hear your advice!!

Reserve is never better than being a lineholder, unless you are trying to avoid flying. Good luck avoiding flying as a reserve. Most regionals have gotten pretty good at utilization of their pilots. Said differently, pilots sitting around at home and not at work is very inefficient and they try to avoid that whenever possible. We spend too many hours at the airport between flights thanks to poor/no rigs in our contract. That is just how management wants it. If you are on a trip or at the airport, they can reassign you to fill in the gaps in coverage. Then they can avoid calling in a reserve, if there is one available. It's all about efficient staffing of pilots. Sorry for the tangent...
Being a lineholder is like having a different job. Plus, the whole thing about being scheds b____, not having ANY control over your schedule or where you fly, etc.

Your experience commuting totally depends on where you are commuting from. The city pairs, the parking, the gate agents, the frequency, and which airline is doing the flying all make a difference in your experience.

Having said all of that, Yanx is right. Move to your base of choice if possible. Do a long, hard soul search and decide. Family is important. Stay close to them/home if you like your extended family (parents, siblings, cousins, etc.). If it's just the city or region, only stay if you plan to retire there. Otherwise, move to your favorite base. I believe Houston is a good choice as far as amount of flying to expect. If you want to fly and make money, get awarded Houston and move there. Likely to be on reserve less and be able to pick up day trips on days off for more money.

If you are Guard or Reserve, consider being near that base if you have a long time to retirement. Commuting for a monthly duty weekend might get old.

Caveat: apparently the 175 reserves are temporarily enjoying some quality couch time at home. I expect that will change in the next few months though.

To each his own, but there other considerations such as show time.

Example: If you live in base and have a noon callout, with a worst case 2pm show then that's better than a trip you have to commute for the night before as a lineholder. And maybe you don't get home until the day after it's done.