EllieJones

My husband is trying to decide between two regional airlines after completed interviews. We live in north Florida, and Atlanta is a 1 hour flight. We don’t want to move for a couple of years if possible, because I’m about to start nursing school and we have a new baby. Which is the better option?

Airline A: Pays less in the short term (I’m quitting my job to go to nursing school) but better in the long run as he builds experience. Has a closer domicile (one hour flight) and if we needed to make things easier we could move there Or closer if necessary.

Airline B: closest domicile is in Virginia. Pays better in the short term and has everything we are currently looking for in an airline, except location.

for pilots who have been flying a while, which one would you choose?

TiredSoul

You have to do what’s best for YOU.
Assume he’ll spend 6-7 years there or longer.

send a check

Think long term so I vote for plan A.

i just spoke with a commuter friend a few moments ago. He had to commute in a day early and ends to late to get home on the last day. That turns a 6 day trip into 7 nights from home trip (instead of 5).

i live in base and I cherish it. So close to base is the next best thing.

Just my .02 cents.

I do admire all the commuters in this industry.

rickair7777

This business is a long game. Plus the compensation differences between regionals is pretty minor across the board... no regional is worth a long commute if you can live in or near base with another (majors different story, the difference can be many millions $).

Only exception for a regional might be if you have crushing financial obligations (ie alimony, child support) and simply must have X income.

Flyinguy

I think you are asking the wrong questions.

Commuting sucks, avoid it if you can. You have weather to worry about, maintenance, and seats available.
If you can’t avoid a commute, the flight time is the lowest priority. Once you have a seat on the plane, I wouldn’t care about a 30m or a 4h flight. You can read, nap, get stuff done ect.

Company commuting rules is a big factor. Then I would say how many flights a day. That can usually mitigate wx, Mx, and seats if there are enough (and you have protections).

You might have a 1h flight but 4-6h in between flights. Or a 4h flight, but every 1-3h between flights. I would much prefer the latter.

Or yes, a 1 leg commute vs. a 2 leg is about as comparable to no commute vs. a 1 leg.

rickair7777

Up to a point. That point for me is 2, maybe 3 hours, after that it starts to suck more. Especially if you're in the JS. Four hours would be my max for sanity, after that looking for a new arrangement

But yes I'd take frequency over flight length, ie rather commute with 5-6 daily four-hour flights rather than 1-3 daily one-hour flights

EllieJones

Good to know. It would be a lot less hassle not to mention the opportunity for more pay and family time if we lived on the base. Sounds like less hassle and stress traveling is the overall reward, as long as there are multiple flights to the location.

JayBee

I agree with the poster that said you are asking the wrong questions... If you're about to start school with a baby and a significant other in the airline business then you NEED to have a support system close by i.e. friends family etc.

No Land 3

Close to base, no question. If all else fails, he can drive it as a last resort.

hindsight2020

You can say that again. I had to read it twice to make sure it wasn't trolling. This one I have intimate knowledge of, with my family resembling the remark of the OP's "scenario" to a literal level, about 4 years ago. In our case, I forewent the airline industry entirely in order to allow my wife the ability to go to nursing school with an infant/toddler at home. Let's get real, ain't nobody up in here going to nursing school in this scenario unless someone has banker's hours and can take care of that infant when the daycare center closes for the day.

New hire Regional FO, concurrent with nursing school for the other spouse? Yeah, this isn't going anywhere without grandparental time charity. And I call it charity because extended family is under no legal obligation to fulfill an infant-raising role when two people want to play Chief in a relationship, which is what this ask is tantamount to.

I'm not chucking stones from the cheap seats. I got the receipts on this one as someone who went/paid thru/for the exact scenario for years. It was by far the hardest and most unpleasant chapter of my entire life, to include USAF UPT or engineering grad school decades before. I will never do it again, and I told my wife that in no uncertain terms.

BL: The airline pilot will not be able to care for the infant period dot. As a nursing student you need a spouse who is home every night, period dot. Airline work is flexible, but people need to have the intellectual honesty to recognize it has very real limitations. There are a myriad of life circumstances for which the job just doesn't work outright. I bet my bottom dollar there's gotta be an unpaid grandparent somewhere on this fantasy, pulling Deus ex machina. Otherwise, either he's not going to a regional, or the OP ain't going to nursing school.