Dirtdiver

All depends on if hiring continues, or if the door shuts behind you. It appears optimistic for the next few years. The stagnation caused by age 65 is nearing an end since the 5 years is almost over and all major's retirements will require them to hire or shrink.

OKC may not be as tough a commute as you think. Most of the problem has to do with frequencies and fellow commuters. OKC ain't TPA or AUS, but it may have nearly as many flights. Having said that, living at your crew base has tons of advantages...Play golf on reserve, pick up overtime, bid trips with early sign-ins/late releases that the commuters avoid, upgrade years before you can hold a commutable line.

Commuting costs you lots of $ in lost revenue

xjtguy

And A LOT of lost time in life.

I prefer time over money.

The question on time to hold a base you want is ALL OVER THE BOARD. There are some domiciles that are extremely senior, or go junior.

Ex, if, and it's a BIG IF, UAL still had a SEA 737 base, you'd be in your grave before you could hold it. While if you wanted EWR, wouldn't be a problem.

If during the 2005-2008ish CAL hiring spree you were awarded the 75/76/77, you'd be going to EWR. Holding IAH would take a long time. There was a time at FedEx (2002ish) where you'd be sitting sideways for a couple years, guaranteed before moving to a window seat. Fast forward 5-6 years and WB window seat right out of the gate. Albeit, in ANC, etc.

If you wanted to stay in OKC and were hired at UAL and got IAH, there's decent flight frequency. But there is also A LOT of commuters. Sometimes more flights just means more flights you'll get bumped off.

e6bpilot

Many thanks for the replies. It has given me a lot to think about. Ideally I would love to live at my base, and particularly if it was in FL (where family is). I would hate to relocate somewhere though and then have to relocate again.
Thanks again.

Lobaeux

I hear you, same thing I'm trying to do. Gonna have to leave Little Rock and settle in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa or Miami. Decisions, decisions.

xjtguy

You can NEVER oversell how good it is to live in base, if that's an option. It's ALWAYS nice to be near family. Not just for you, but them as well. As mentioned the income/QOL/flexibilty that opens up into your monthly bid criteria is insane. If you're a line holder, being able to do high credit 3 day trips (if that's your thing) vs. so-so credit 4 day trips that may not be front-back end commutable is great. When you get senior, doing the 2 leg day trip 3 times a week almost makes this better than a 9-5 job. Versus being a senior commuter that's now able to hold the front-back end commutable 4 day with most likely has short overnights and has you going home feeling like you've been eaten by a wolf and sh1t over cliff EVERY week.

I've been commuting to 8 different domiciles in 13+ years. Almost all due to downgrade/displacement/base closure/furlough/company shutdown/having to start at the bottom again. My first 5 years I would have averaged a move about once every 9-10 months had I elected to live in base each time. I only moved for this job once, will never do it again.

But a couple real big picture things if you are going to commute;

Commuting isn't so bad. As long as you're not trying to do it on the weekends, weekdays, mornings, afternoons, evenings, over the holidays/spring break, etc.

Do it from day 1. Because once you get a taste of living in base and then try to commute, you will be MORE miserable.

ALL commutes are hard, ALL commutes suck. It's just the degree to which the suck is measured. I've done the transcon commute with the massive time zone change and always having to give up part/most of a day off and go in the night before with crashpad/hotel expenses. I've also done the single time zone change/2 hr flight commute with 30+ fights a day back and forth between 5 different airlines. Yeah, it STILL sucked. I've known guys that commuted from say BOS-NYE. Short flight, lots of service, STILL sucks. As does say LAS/PHX-LAX. Again, short flight, lots of service, STILL sucks.

Historically, east coast domiciles have gone junior. Meaning 1) Yiu can usually hold it right away and 2) Your seniority will go ip faster than other bases. If you are going to commute, staying in the same time zone with a north-south commute is less suck ridden. Also, if your company or one of their regional affiliates does some of/all of the flights is also less suck ridden for jumpseat priority purposes. Assuming you're not the ONLY guy from your company, etc etc etc. However, if it's ALL RJ service it could suck for chronic weight restriction purposes.

It also seems that if there is an LCC that serves where you commute to/from it can make commuting less suckey.

Try to keep a commute to 1 legger. If it it has to be a 2 legger, the charlie foxtrot factor goes up on an exponential scale.

That's just my experience and what I've learned as well as my friends/coworkers as well.All that's worth is exactly what you're paying for it.

Your mileage may vary, no purchase necessary, details inside.............

gr8vu

XJT
Great post--now I need to work on my suck less spreadsheet for each airline/domicile (not really). Thanks for your time. I can stay here on East Coast but we would like to move West eventually so it's hard to know what to do without a real job offer.

Albief15

I commute. My family gets to live in smalltown Gulf Coast town vice the crime ridden, drug infested major city that is my domicile.

I manage to eek out enough to make commuting okay. I fly my own plane into a small airport where I lease some hangar space, go to work and fly an nice trip, then fly home when I get back. I get to work and back in great mood, and my family is happy to live in a town they love.

XJT's plan works great for him. My plan works great for me. At my company there are 4500 different stories.... The good news is unlike the military the airline life isn't "one size fits all.." You can try a few options, see what works for you, then make your choice

Also suggest you do a thread search on "timing your exit..."

xjtguy

I wouldn't go so far as to say it "works out great" for me, or any body else. In fact, I don't even get to enjoy that plan as ALL my commutes have been east-west with the time zone changes. But how I'd LOVE to have a north-south style commute, it just won't happen. As you say, there's more than one story. More than just the 4500 that exist at just ONE company. It's simply the best/least suckey way to deal with the obstacles that exist when the lifestyle and demands of this career cross paths.

And are you usually flying single departure trips? Commuting once, or even twice to work in a bid period at a freight carrier isn't at all the same as 4-5 times a in a bid period a SLF carrier. Especially if giving up partial days off on one/either end.

Any chance you might be able to answer that PM I sent you a while back?

RunFast

Commuting sucks but you can make the most of it if your family is happier where they live.

Pay scales don't paint the entire picture. They don't necessarily translate to W-2s and retirement.

One month of classes for me means commuting to the east coast vs the west, where I live, for the last five years. I had the chance to take the earlier class but it "didn't work out" for my plan to exit the military.

GrummanIron

Many thanks to those willing to lend advice on the transition. I'm also looking at the prospect of a career change at the 11 year mark. With the separation bonus due to "force shaping" and at least the POSSIBILITY of hiring I think it might be a good time to make the jump.

My question is...How hard is it for a guy with a really good military flying resume (and +2K PIC) to get hired. I realize it may not be with FedEx/Delta, etc, but can I get a job to put food on the table until I can move into the position I want?