The best regional near SYR
 

I am from the Syracuse NY area, and will be finishing my CFI-CFII-MEI ratings soon and am wondering what are the best choices for regionals if I want to continue to live in the Syracuse NY area.

you can live just about anywhere and commute. Comair has bases in JFK and CVG, both within a reasonable 1 leg commute. I know there are many others in the northeast

Well Colgan and Piedmont both have Syracuse bases... but Colgan is obviously far from best choice. (Can't speak for Piedmont as I don't work there.) If you don't mind commuting, it's not a bad commute (many 1 leg flights) between SYR and many of the regional bases in the Northeast.

I think CHQ has a BUF base.

When commuting on reserve, how near to the airport do you have to live? I currently live aproximately 55 minutes from SYR ( I live closer to rinky dink ART), so I'm wondering if I would have to move.

Don't choose to fly for a lousy Regional just because you can live at home - sure it makes life a little bit easier (in the short-term), but you'll be miserable there. Turn your life upside down and go somewhere you can be happy for several years, where life will suck on first-year pay only.

Piedmont has a 90 minute call out for reserves in SYR. Once you are off reserve, which could be pretty quick it doesn't matter how far you live.

CHQ has a base in BUF that's very junior right now. I'm not sure how far the drive is, but it beats commuting to JFK, I know that.

PDT hasn't been accepting any new pilots in SYR for the last few base bids. Both the number of hard lines and planes overnighting there are being decreased. I think the general consensus is that SYR is gonna get shut down as a base.

I'm having a blast at PDT, but if you don't wanna move or commute, its not gonna work out for you.

Does this mean in terms of just PDT, or any of the regionals?