Commuting from DEN??
 

Hello all. I'm an AF guy that is nearing the end so trying to gather as much information to make the right choices. The one absolute I have is I will be moving back to Denver for family reasons. If I'm lucky enough to get a job offer, what are the realities of commuting? I see that there are anywhere from 2-5 company flights a day, but what are the chances of a junior guy utilizing these? Anyone on here making this commute? As always, thanks to all for advice!


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Our jumpseat is not seniority based. It is based on booking status and timestamp. So a junior person has the same chance as a senior person. A bunch of purple folks live in the Denver area though.

My understanding is that DEN is one of the toughest commutes at FDX. Lots of pilots and not a lot of pax options to MEM.

Bid Indy if it's available. Even though there are quite a few IND based pilots from CO, the jumpseat is always available. Every trip in the current bid pack can be jump seated in to from DEN.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't think about the Indy option.


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DEN & JAX I've always heard are loaded with J/S. ORF was tough until the 72 retired.

Difficult commute being junior flying a crummy domestic line. There are 2 flights(non sweep) to MEM 6 days of the week and it varies but I think 1 or 2 pax flights. There are more flights 4? Going the other way, MEM-DEN on FX. IND is easy IF you could hold it. You'll likely get bumped sometime due to MEL'd jumpseat(inop) or equipment change to less seats.

Denver is a hard commute, even if you're not trying to commute on FedEx. It is a popular destination.

Dazdandconfused,

The reality is, DEN is probably the toughest commute in our domestic system, along with JAX.

There are between 2-4 daily flights into MEM. We also have a MON-FRI Colorado Springs option, which can help, but tough to return to on the weekend. Offline daily options are 1 United CRJ (many times weight restricted), 1 United Airbus and 1 Frontier Airbus, each with 2 jumpseats.

Getting back to DEN from MEM is much easier than getting to work, fortunately/unfortunately.

So, Denver is doable, but it requires a lot more work and planning than most of our other outsations. And, once you get some seniority, holding deadhead lines makes things much easier.

Good luck!

And then you have the parking problem. That's worst than the jumpseat problem. :(

I really appreciate all the insight everyone! overnite, are you referring to employee parking at Denver?


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How senior are DH trips?

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Way more than you will ever be:D

There are 12 parking spots for pilots at the FedEx ramp. The UPS lot is the official cargo employee parking lot. Supposedly somewhere between 250 and 300 pilots commute out of Denver. $40/per month for the UPS lot.

To hold DEN double DH lines on the MadDog, it'll be many many years, a little more quickly for DEN double DH's out of IND, but still several years. But holding west coast double DH's on the 757, which makes commuting much easier, should take a lot less time. They're not the prettiest trips in the bidpack, but I've seen guys with <2 years on property getting them occasionally on the bid award, and maybe even more so on secondary lines for those who bid them (which I personally never bid or track).

About the parking situation, you can use DH deviation bank to pay for the $40/month cargo lot (UPS). And if it's snowing and you don't want to walk the half mile to FDX, you just wait for the cargo bus that comes by every half hour (only goes in that direction though).

Have you tried Ual or Swa?

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Gillian, yes both are on the list. I just want to have all the information possible as I move foreard


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Frontier also flies to mem. I've never had a problem getting on UAL to DEN.

From overnight 8:
"And then you have the parking problem. That's worst than the jumpseat problem. "
Because the ramp manager there does not like pilots. They do not deserve parking.
Their is plenty of unused space.This when around a few times when the new airport opened.
This is one of the many areas that if our ombudsmen" Union leaders, The system or ass chief would speak up for us.
You know we work at Fed Ex too.

How ramps like this and KAUS treat us like $h!t and we still give them extra to save an on time push is confusing. For me I will always act professionally and by the letter of the FOM countdown parameters.

I'd like to hear what Austin did/does? It's been my commuting airport for three years with no issues that I've seen.

Recent jumpseat
 

You can book a jumpseat as a line flyer 21 days early. So the though being if you are a line holder, you can set an alarm and book what you need. So your commute is only as difficult as getting a line so you know what your schedule is. No secondary line, no open time cause that wont work.

With that being said I tried to book a jumpseat 20 days and 16 hours before my 2 week trip. Not only all 4 seats full, I was 3rd on standby. I expect that a couple of these will open as we get closer. So I checked what off line options I had. Frontier was running a one way for 139.00. So I simply bought the ticket.... I even get to get up during normal waking hours... So I guess the msg is don't over think it... You'll get to work, you just might have to leave earlier or get creative.

FLYBOYD : "I'd like to hear what Austin did/does? It's been my commuting airport for three years with no issues that I've seen."

I think I saw it on "Jet Flyer" they (ramp /mx) used to provide a courtesy ride to aid the pilot get to the terminal or parking.


Long ago many ramps would let the pilots use a van to grab a bite to eat. This is long gone. My point is why do the ramp managers not think that pilots are part of the company? We should all help each other people service profit. Pilots are not people.

Interesting...thanks for the history.

FYI...about a week and a half ago I ended up at the ramp with my car at the parking garage. Since Parking Spot can't give rides anymore (yes, I tried again but it's still in effect), I was standing outside the gate working on my rideshare ride (RideAustin) when a ramp employee stopped and offered me a ride. He wasn't a loader as he was nicely dressed. I thanked him and mentioned our ride problem. He said that I should've just stopped by the manager's office and ask them next time. This is after Evy offered me a ride but she said I would have to wait until after her 20-30 minute meeting that started in five minutes. She was my backup if I didn't find something else. I did, so I didn't go back in to take her up on her offer.