Commuting Question (first post)
 

Currently on active duty looking to switch over to the airlines in the near future.

The family and I are looking to move to Pensacola, FL and try to make that our home. I know that the Pensacola area is heavy on commuters due to NAS Pensacola and Whiting and trying to commute out of KPNS is difficult.

Does anyone or has anyone heard of commuters having an easier time using Mobile or Destin-Fort Walton to get into a domicile. Or do you have to drive to Gulfport, Panama City, or even Atlanta? From what I have read so far seems like I would have to be ready to suck it up and drive as far as Atlanta, if I was lucky enough to be hired by Delta.

Former active duty as well and I have flown with a Capt multiple times that commutes out of PNS. There are a good amount of flights to DFW but you will be on a regional jet. He does fly into Mobile if he has too and have someone pick him up. You can go to passrider.com and check out the schedule for a day from whatever airport you are looking at.

I commute out of PNS, VPS and ECP and all can be very difficult depending on where you're trying to go.

United and American are all ERJ's and Delta is mostly -717's and -88's.

Lots of commuters in all locations though. I find myself usually leaving the day before my trip starts just so I give myself many options to make it to work.

Check out Allegiant flights out of VPS. They hardly ever have Jumpseaters and may get you to a connection out of a place they fly to easily. (Currently 7 cities including Las Vegas, Cincinnati, and Memphis)

Commuting sucks...
Having to accomplish a double commute to get to work really ***king sucks!!

My in-laws live outside PNS, very nice place to live, a little "rural" for me though.
I've flown in there numerous times, I'd think the commute could be troublesome, make for some anxious days getting to work.
As a former active duty guy, I was very strategic in using my last move. Plenty of military presence around PNS-Ft. Walton Beach area, but tough to commute out of. Plus, driving into Ft. Walton Beach, Navarre, Mary Esther is kind of a pain. On the plus side, housing is fairly cheap.

Hmm, you have a family and want to live in Pensacola... Destin-Ft. Walton will be an Allegiant domicile in the near future... Allegiant usually doesn't have overnights. Sounds to me like you should give Allegiant some thought.

I commuted for years and even a short commute can really suck.

Agree with his sentiments above...commuting BLOWS!! Imho, it's better to live where you're based, be home WAY more, make more money, and take more frequent vacations to the places you desire. The downside of living in a location with a challenging commute will probably equal a crap QOL, spending lots of time in hotels or crashpads, missing out on loads of home things, and filling your life with stress and anxiety. In our business, anything you can do to mitigate those two things will pay dividends in the long term on both you and your family. I always think about the guys living in base when I'm seven or eight hours into a commute home, and they've had dinner, gotten lucky, and are eating ice cream while watching the game I'll surely hear about!! ;-)) Best of luck!!

It has been said many times. The differences between a good airline career and a great airline career is whether or not you commute. We all like to live in wonderful places, the question for you. Which one is more important. It can be done, just make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Good luck.

If you possibly can, don't commute. I commuted to and from CLT-ATL. Had 8 DAL flights and 5 or so AirTran flights daily. Sounds good and was, as an international pilot only. But flying domestic, ALL rotations either ended too late to catch a flight or started too early and had to spend the night prior. And if you are not in the airline's corporate HQ, the possibility of base closures or base moves are real. During my time DAL closed DFW, IAH, MIA, BOS, MSY and ORD, but with mergers opened SLC, LAX, SFO (then closed), PDX (then closed), SEA. And that might be a reason TO commute. It's a crap shoot.