I'd agree with Brian's reply above me. Gig Harbor is a great place for a pilot. There is a huge influx of pilots moving into the area- Lots of Delta guys and there have always been a lot of Alaska/Horizon guys here. If you find the houses in the area to be more than what you want to pay, look slightly north in Olalla and across the Purdy bridge into the Key Peninsula. The drive from GH to the airport is usually around 45-50 minutes, but traffic can double that if there is an accident during rush hour. It is a pretty safe place to sit short reserve from.

I also agree that reserve will be limited. With the amount of planes that are coming on property, these extra pilots now sitting reserve will quickly find themselves with planes to hold lines on. As long as they don't open a PDX base, I'd even bet upgrade will drop significantly in the jet also (fingers crossed), and I don't expect them to, because if the do, they will lose a lot of PDX based Q400 CAs to the jet, and they can't afford to do that.

I’d put money on PDX being a jet base by 2019. But I’m looking at it from the other side, as a Q400 PDX based FO :)

There's a couple of jet FOs already upgrading to jet CA.

Hey Snacky,

Is there a seat lock for Captains?

So if one upgrades in a Q, can that person transfer to the JET as soon as seniority allows it or is there a seat lock?

Another vote for Gig Harbor. I love it here. But definitely beware of the commute. I left at 0500 for a 0633 report on my last trip and I still didn’t make my report time. I know a lot of guys who live here set up their bid preferences specifically to try to avoid coming anywhere even close to rush hour. (Including me)

If you upgrade on the Q you will be seatlocked for 1 year.

I was wondering about that commute. JBLM is the worst.