Commuting life?
 

I am wondering how bad/good the QOL is commuting to and from base in your first few years at a regional.. I am already married with a wife that’s followed me around the country in and out of the military.. That being said a semblance of stability for her would be ideal.. So commute from an area you love to live, or live in an area you might not love; at least not until some seniority?

Commuting isn’t so bad depending on if you have decent airline service wherever you live. However, it can take a pretty hard toll on QOL sometimes. Missing commutes home cause of delays on your trip, getting bumped off, getting home really late, etc... There are tons of different choices nowadays with bases all over the country. I, personally, would try to avoid commuting as much as possible. But, it’s not the end of the world.. especially with airlines like Endeavor that have a sweet commuter clause.

I prefer to live where I enjoy it the most and commute to work. Been doing it for the better part of 4 years at a regional. It isn’t as bad as some make it out to be, but it also isn’t always a cake walk. Having an understanding spouse goes a long way.

If you can live somewhere that has 6-8 flights /day to a hub you can be based it commuting isn’t bad. Having early flights to the hub and late flights from that hub to where you live is a huge plus. Working for a regional with a good commuter policy like the one that Endeavor has or like one of the American WO regionals (Envoy, PSA, Piedmont) helps tremendously.

I’m a CA at PSA and like I said I’ve been commuting for my time here. If you have any questions or want any insight let me know!

Depends, where you commuting from and where you commuting to ?

Would the commute be on company metal ? own brand metal if at a wholly owned ?

I commute out of a large hub on mainline metal. I can be bumped off the actual jumpseat by mainline pilots. As it turns out there are few mainliners on this route, lucky for me.

There are between 10 - 15 flights a day depending on season so if you do miss one - the next one is in an hour. However, its a popular tourist destination so the standby list is regularly 20 or more deep all day every day. Add a maintenance or weather cancellation due to crew timing out and the whole thing turns into a crap fest quick and in a hurry.

All that said the only time I did not get a seat was Dec 22, ended up jumping on my own metal and had a friend pick me up at nearby airport and went got my car the next day.

So like above, its been no big deal commuting - depending on situation.

Now, add in to that though - picking up open time is next to impossible for various reasons. I basically just fly my line and that's it.

There's no way of getting around it, it's terrible unless you have a lot of days off. It's almost a different job if you commute vs actually living in base. Be prepared to be home like 30-48 hours a week as a junior pilot. Also there was a report that came out recently saying that airline seats have never been more packed full of people than any other time in history. Means lots of Jumpseats to and from work.

I get why some of the people above are saying it’s not bad. I mean I say that too right up until **** goes bad, which it does.

Commuting is cancer and this job is night and day more enjoyable, more rewarding and far less stressful if you can live in base.

I would strongly advise living in base as I feel it is the single greatest factor in determining your level of stress in this job.

My commute has about 24 flights a day each way. Hour flight. It's absolutely terrible. Drive if you can.

If at all possible avoid:
1. Hub to hub
2. RJ only routes that your airline doesn’t fly
3. Two leg commutes

If you are reserve it will be hell. One year I spent 20 days in a row in an airport. Come home on day off, sleep, laundry, go back to work the next day on my day off. Rinse and repeat. As a line holder things can get a bit better to a lot better. If you can commute on the same days you work but make them really long is a hell of a lot better than having to go in the day before and back on your day off.

Until you stop doing it you just don't realize how much commuting sucks. With that said it depends on from where to where. Under an hour flight it's not that bad. Commuting coast to coast wedged in the jumpseat and ending up being awake for 18 hours isn't all that fun. Your kids, your wife, your dog all want to see you and you just want to curl up and sleep for 24 hours. Having sometime steal your jumpseat and you get to wait 3 hours for the next one or 2 leg it home not fun. Yes, people can steal the jumpseat by lying about which partner they work for and a few other methods that gate agents have no time to deal with.

I commuted 10 years to 4 different bases and the majority was pain in the arse. Yes, there were moments where life was good and easy but it was not the majority of the time.

If you can tolerate it great. If you go in with a clear view of what commuting life is going to be and your wife is on board fine. I live out west, want to stay out west, and simply won't apply to airlines that would cause me to commute to the east coast. Assuming they would love to have me (ha ha) it just isn't worth it to me. Everything in life is about trade-offs. Good luck..

Commuting Life = Oxymoron

In a 30 year career I commuted for about 6 months. It was the EASIEST commute in the world Chicago-Detroit. One leg, less than an hour and, this was in the 90's when load factors were rarely above 70%. There were at least 18-20 flights/day, on 3 airlines, and that was just between MDW and DTW, let alone ORD.

IT SUCKED.

Here's the Reality for a 3 day trip:

> 2 Days before Day One - Stressing out checking loads/listing and planning. OOPs..looks bad. Better go late tomorrow and head to the crash pad. Sh!t.

> Day 1 - Work

> Day 2 - Start looking at loads/listing/planning/stressing out about getting Home tomorrow.

> Day 3 - Well...It all worked out. Great. Home. (OR..SURPRISE !...Maybe not. There goes another day. )

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4 Days Off

Day 1 - Relax.

Day 2 - Start looking at loads. OOOhhh...Lil' Stress there. Ignore it.

Day 3 - Start looking at loads/listing/stressing etc.

Day 4 - Damn. Time to leave - You will NEVER make your Showtime on Day 1 of work. Crash pad appreciation Night...Again.


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Get it?

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.


OR


Get up, drive to work, go away for a few days and come home.

Better yet, bid Turn Lines and be home EVERY night. Don't even bother to pack a bag..Throw a shirt and some socks/underwear in your flight kit just in case if you like.

You choose...It's not one size fits all.

I'm jus' sayin'.


:)

Have Fun.

Stimpson