Hoping some Delta, United or FedEx folks can chime in. I’m a life long commuter out of a medium sized town in the mountain west, trying to get a good idea of what may be the best option in the hopefully not too distant future. Realizing it doesn’t matter until an offer is in hand, there are definitely some steps I can take now to better position myself depending on where I want to prioritize going, which is the reason for the question. Hoping some folks can provide insights on what options may be best, if there even is one ‘best’. Not sure if it matters a whole lot for the discussion, but assume a regional captain, internal recs at each place, less than 500 TPIC right now (I know a lot more is needed for Fdx).

Delta
Easy commute to SLC. 3-5 flights a day.

United
Easy commute to DEN. 5-10 flights a day.

FedEx
Not served by Fdx. Closest place Fdx goes is a ~2 hr drive. Possibility of someday holding a line with double deadheads is very appealing for obvious reasons. But having to commute to a Fdx base for 30 years sounds daunting. Being gone more than 6-7 days at a time would be tough.

Priority is most days off at home and have no plans of ever relocating. I really appreciate any comments.

 

Have you looked at ACMI to be home based?


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My friends at FDX just buy airline tickets if they can't get a convenient free commute.

 

Given that you
1) don’t live in a base
2) aren’t (?) willing to move to a base

i think making a decision based on how your commute might look in 2040 is suspect. Bases change, contracts change, alien overlords arrive bringing teleportation technology rendering pilots obsolete.

if i was gonna bet on anything, it’s Denver continuing to be a United base with the training center. But that’s easy enough to poke holes in should you wish.

 

Lol. Get out of here with that nonsense

 

You stands high probability of having your cake and eating it too as a new hire at FedEx. Majority of trips on the 75 have single or double deadheads. Furthermore, lots of those same trips trips go to small markets out west. Good luck either way.


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Job ain't good enough if it's not Delta?

 

Denver is a good choice in the long run, but if you were to get offered UAL, you likely would not want to be there for a year when you first get hired. Commuting to reserve is terrible. If there is service to SFO or LAX, that would be a better a QOL. If your QOL is measured by days off at home, then you probably shouldn’t even consider a legacy. With the commutes, you’ll always be gone a lot regardless and dropping trips isn’t as easy.

 

Buddy lives in MT, got hired at DL and FedEx. DL was the easier commute on paper, but he felt better about going to FedEx. Went FedEx five years ago, and still couldn’t be happier. Positive space commutes most of the time.

 

Your commute to DEN could look vastly different in a couple of years depending on what equipment currently serves your town. If it’s all 70/76 seaters and mainline, it should probably continue to be the same. If it’s mostly 50 seaters, it could look very different if United really does draw down the 50 seat service. If I could do my career over, I’d definitely have gone with FedEx. Every airline has a crappy part that you just have to endure before you have the seniority to do what you want. At FedEx you’d have to do some time sitting through the sort at 0200, but once you could hold it, daytime freight would be the best job out there. Flying freight is typically more stable and much less drama. No flight attendants and no passengers to deal with. The old saying that boxes don’t b!tch is something worth considering.