shavetail

I retired a few months back after a 5 yr staff gig and timing worked to get back into the game with a regional. Lots of factors for choosing my regional but top on list was ease of commute to DEN. Should be based in DEN after 4 months of flying. Have the option to fly on company jet too and gives priority in the jump. End game stay in ABQ and commute to DEN with a legacy or major (6-7 daily 1hr non-stop flts to DEN). Could take 2-5 yrs to be based in DEN. But I think I limited end game without really taken into account UPS or FEDEX. I need to rethink that and should jump on a seat to get an accurate idea about flying FEDEX/UPS. I need to consider since I assumed commuting to FEDEX/UPS was not ideal until AlderDriver mentioned it. You have me thinking now....AlderDriver, can you give me an idea how a commute from ABQ to MEM or other hub on FEDEX would work? I toyed around with the FEDEX Jumpseat website....has a daily late night flight non-stop to MEM most days. Looks easier to get to MEM than LAX. Assuming MEM as hub, and commuting from ABQ, would duty start the next day or would it be possible to start flight period upon arrival late that night. Thank you

Adlerdriver

The first thing worth noting to help put the FedEx schedule in perspective is the business model and how we deliver the stuff. We don't deliver Sundays and only limited on Saturdays. So the flying schedule tends to be lighter on the weekends. Everything is getting picked up around the US to start the journey on Monday - so no reason to fly from MEM to any city on that day. With that in mind, it's rare to find scheduled flights outbound from MEM to anywhere on Monday. IND is another huge sort facility and all the stuff I'm describing with MEM is happening simultaneously there as well. However, as of right now, there is no flight from ABQ to or from IND. So, that's not an option for you.

So, the week always starts with Monday night flights from every city we serve (including ABQ). All the packages have been picked up all day long Monday (and every weekday as the week continues). Now they're on the jet and at 20:00L ABQ time, they take off for MEM. Once they get to MEM around midnight, they need a few hours to be sorted and loaded on the correct jets to take them to their final destination later that morning. That works out perfect for you since you can arrive a few hours before your show time, maybe grab a nap and be ready for duty at, say, 0200-0300L MEM time.

Your trip is usually going to start with one of those outbound flight from MEM leaving at around 0300-0400L MEM time. So, you leave your house to show at the ABQ airport at 1900L for the jumpseat that takes off at 2000L. There's one every night from Mon-Fri that will get you to MEM in plenty of time for you to make any morning trip we have.

When you finish your last trip of the week and arrive back in MEM on Friday night (again, just before midnight) - now it's time to go home. You wait a few hours and jump on the ABQ flight that leaves around 0400L and lands back there at 0530L. There is also a daily flight every afternoon (Tues-Sun) roughly 12 hours later departing MEM around 1600, arriving ABQ at 1730L.

Right now the A300 is flying to ABQ. That's 6 seats outside the cockpit and two inside. I seriously doubt you'll have much trouble getting a seat most days you need one. They can be reserved 3-weeks in advance. If you miss your trip because the jumpseat flight is late, you will lose the trip pay but be free from discipline (as long as your schedule meets certain parameters which it should).

Since there needs to be pilots in ABQ Monday night ready to fly to MEM, that means they either fly there Saturday and layover all weekend until Monday night - or they leave MEM Monday morning or Sunday afternoon and deadhead to ABQ on commercial airlines. So, if you get one of those trips - you either spend the weekend laying over at home or you wake up Monday morning already where you need to be getting paid to be there (no need to commute to MEM just to fly commercial back to ABQ. Just cancel the ticket and stay home since you're where you need to be).

Since FedEx need pilots in all their cities Monday night ready to fly to MEM, there are A LOT of trips with commercial deadheads Monday morning. You may not have the ABQ one, but maybe you get the one in DFW. So, you cancel the ticket from MEM to DFW on your trip and used the money FedEx planned to use to buy yourself one from ABQ to DFW. If it's cheaper than the MEM-DFW one and you have some extra, maybe get a car service to drive you to the airport. Jump on a morning flight to DFW (with a confirmed seat, earning frequent flyer miles and getting paid), make your way to the scheduled layover hotel and grab an afternoon nap before showtime later that evening. Fly one leg to MEM, turn to your next trip, fly somewhere else, sleep the day there, back to MEM that night and so on for the week. Finish up Friday night or Saturday morning and look forward to maybe having a whole week off before you do it again.

That's just one simple example of a basic domestic schedule. The deadhead deviation options gives us HUGE flexibility in how we get to work. There are lots of folks who rarely ever have to actually make a true commute to MEM to start a trip. It's common for senior guys who always get deadheads and maybe turn through IND instead of MEM to only go to MEM once every 9 months for recurrent. You mentioned LAX - although it may be closer, it really wouldn't be an option for many years. It's only an MD-11 base and is extremely senior. If you're staying in ABQ, MEM is your best bet for the near future anyway.

Hopefully that all makes sense and removes some of the mystery. I haven't even touched on the international deadhead options - maybe another time. Overall it's a great set-up if you can swing it. Highly recommend.

shavetail

Thank you Adlerdriver for taking the time to explain the domestic process. That is a post that I am going to keep on file. Now real excited about learning more.

Han Solo

1. grill your guard/res buds @ your unit, they should be a primary resource
2. the grass really is way greener
3. commuting just about always sucks but certain circumstances can make it even worse! example: a contemporary of mine lives in Dallas and was thinking it would be an easy commute from DFW to ATL to work for DAL (just look at all the nonstops!!!). what he didn't know was we closed a base there and that commute might be the worst at the company, even more so for a junior pilot. swa is a crappy backup since a lot of former ATL air tran guys now commute to DAL. if you have a specific airline, go to their forum here and ask about your specific proposed commute.

JTwift

I believe DAL - ATL is generally considered the worst commute in the country.

atpcliff

Kalitta Air has Home Basing.
Western Global has Worldwide Home Basing, but is typically considered a lower-tier carrier.
ATI has home basing, but is typically considered a lower-tier carrier.
NetJets has Gateway Basing.
There are a number of other charter operators with Home Basing.
Atlas has Gateway Travel (not as good as Home basing).

All of the above you do not worry about commuting. The company buys you a ticket, and it is their responsibility to get you to/from work. Some of the pilots at the above companies really like the fact that you don't have to worry about commuting.

PM me if you have any questions (I was Rucker, 86-02, Air Force).

Thunder1

This is one perspective from a 6+ year Southwest Airlines guy that also put in 20+ years flying for Uncle Sam:

Do yourself a huge favor and move to a domicile at your airline!
You've been moving around and making it work with the military calling the shots on where you live so you're obviously flexible about where you live or you wouldn't have stayed for the 20 years.

Your life WILL be sucked out of you spending a full day each week getting to and from work. Anyone that tells you it is not a half day getting there and another half day getting home at the end of your trip is lying to you. That is a full day wasted typically once a week at any passenger airline.

Also, at most airlines, especially Southwest, you will make a LOT more money living in a domicile by being able to pick up short notice extra flying normally at 1.5x regular pay.

Also, don't forget -- you, the wife and the kids now fly for free. They can go visit family in that "other city" that you would have lived in anytime they want -- for FREE!

Just my opinion -- you've worked way too hard to have life suck because of a commute. And don't believe anything else -- COMMUTING SUCKS!! Many do it for a variety of reasons -- but all commuters who are honest will tell you the truth and IT SUCKS.
I did it for 1.5 years and cried uncle and moved to domicile 5 years ago -- best decision ever!! I'm happy, wife is happy. Life is good.
Best of luck on your decisions and thanks for your 20 years of service!

rickair7777

There's a stress factor, but a commute doesn't have to be THAT bad. Two hour flight time max, with multiple non-stops on multiple airlines is largely a no-brainer. But if it's a congested hub-to-hub route, and/or populated by senior people it can get hard.

You obviously need enough seniority to bid commutable trips. That varies by airline (at mine the threshold is the junior lineholder).

When I commuted, I would depart about three hours prior to show, which would give me one backup flight (down to the last minute). Holidays might necessitate spending a half or whole day commuting (or just buy a ticket if you don't want to deal with it).

If you draw a two-hour circle around all the major hubs, that vastly opens up your lifestyle options... mountains, rural, mayberry, etc. I wouldn't live in a big city just to avoid a commute. For example, with the time on the road, if you can live near family that can be a HUGE enabler for the spouse who has to cover down when you're gone.

kevbo

A good friend commented recently, "I've got 19 years with AA and I'm still on call". Cheers!

Sliceback

8,000 out of 15,000? Reserve by choice. Even in DFW he could be a top 5% n/b FO if he wanted.