e6bpilot

I fly for SWA, commute from OKC to HOU and haven't bought a hotel in months. YMMV but there are plenty of commutable trip opportunities from OKC at Southwest. They won't fall into your lap, but even as a junior FO you can spend very few extra nights from home commuting if you don't mind flying PM trips and play your cards right.
If you look at bases with good frequency and a late flight home (HOU, sometimes DAL and DEN) it can actually be quite easy.

LumberJack

That's good info! Would you mind posting typical show and release times for a PM trip?

Another thought is Delta typically has 4 day trips for narrowbody fleets. I've never seen a trip uncommutable on both ends, and a lot are commutable on both ends, but you'll usually be gone for 4 days at a time, 4 times per month. Whereas Southwest I believe generally flies 3 day trips and 4 of them per month? So even though Delta is generally more commutable, you might still be home more flying for Southwest, especially if you can get home same day.

e6bpilot

We do have 4 day trips. I fly them sometimes and the majority, though definitely not all of them, are commutable. They just aren't terribly productive and day four is always...well...day four. The majority of our trips are 3 day trips though with a scattering of 4, 2, and 1 day trips.
AM trips are generally a deal breaker. Most of them report at or before 6am and so you have to commute the previous afternoon if you want to be rested.
PM shows start at around 11am and I have seen them as late as 9pm. They generally end sometime between 9pm and 1am but we have a few that get back around 6pm after a short overnight. I try and trade into trips that get back before 10pm since there is always a late flight back from HOU, usually around 10:20-10:50. That flight also runs late quite a bit since it is the last flight of the night and so I have made the commute plenty of times when I thought I wouldn't.
Of course, with airline commuting, all of this could change in an instant if they took that late night flight away.

at6d

We have day trips, two, three, and four days.

I fly PMs as a rule. Since I drive about 2 hours to the airport, the PM option keeps me out of traffic. I had three four-days and one three-day last month.

The average report time for me was 1PM, average finish was 10:30PM.

Average TFP per trip was 29.65, and I had 16 days off in three-day blocks (except for a block of four days off).

fireman0174

Most of the FAA travel is to/from the academy located on the west side of KOKC. Anyone going to the academy for training will be traveling in the back on a regular ticket.

JamesNoBrakes

Well, not everyone, but the majority. I believe instructors and a few other personnel still jumpseat. Anyone going for training is supposed to be on a ticket.

e6bpilot

That's correct. The vast majority travel on a ticket but the inspectors almost always jumpseat. Maybe it's the times I am flying, but I have never in over 3 years been bumped off in OKC. The only time I had it happen is Denver and it was actually BS since we had a second unoccupied jumpseat, he just didn't want me up there and the captain complied.

coryk

Surprised nobody has mentioned FedEx. OKC-MEM, company metal, can book JS 21 days in advanced. Typical schedule of week on/week off type of flying. Seniority = 777 = 1 longer (8-12) day trip a month. Or airline deadheads not the front and/or back of a trip that you can deviate from and use the money to buy a ticket from OKC vs. MEM to the first operating city/leg.

Or, Delta.

e6bpilot

Good point. FDX is a commuter paradise and the pay ain't bad either. I have one friend who works there and lives here in okc and his life is pretty danged good.

okawner

Had a friend who lived in Norman and said he sat short call for AA at home (DFW based). Not sure what their work rules are, but that's probably a 2 hour drive best case.

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