Commuting on Eagle
 

Was looking to find out any info about commuting from either ORD or DFW down to BNA? I'm currently living there and was trying to find out which base might make my life easier (if there is such a thing ha). It appears that there are more mainline flights to DFW but I have no idea how many commuters are on here since bna used to be an American hub. ORD seems to have a decent amount of flights, but more service by Eagle. Thanks for any info you can pass along!

Check if you have a commuter clause in your contract, and what that is...Most likely living at a place that has your airlines service or mainlines service is what is going to make you life easier.

The only difference between commuting on AE vs AA is the Eagle guy will get the cockpit JS ahead of an AA guy on Eagle, and the AA guy will get the JS ahead of the Eagle guy on AA. JS is based on seniority, all other non-reving is (essentially) based on check in time - first come first served.


The time you spend on reserve in ORD will be negligible, in DFW significant. It is exponentially harder to commute while on reserve. I would hazzard a guess that you will prefer ORD by a wide margin. Unless you really, really want to fly a SAAB.:D

Frustrating
 

Many many pilots commute from Nashville to ORD. They get very frustrated because AA Eagle is always weight restricted! Even if you have jumpseat priveleges, it doesn't hardly help because if the plane is full you most likely will not get in the cockpit because that will make the airplane over the zero fuel weight. It is true that Eagle pilots always come ahead of AA pilots on Eagle flights, and AA pilots always come ahead of Eagle pilots on AA, but from what I hear many of the pilots commute by trying a flight to ORD, not getting on, and then catching Southwest to Midway, and riding the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) one and a half hours via train to ORD.
Here is the best advice - to which you should pay major attention: DO NOT COMMUTE BY AIR! Live within driving distance of your domicile.