[quote=welle036;554667]Routes may have changed a little since my last exposure to MIA, but generally consist of:

Key West, Savannah, GA, Jacksonville, Tampa, Ft. Myers.
Bahamas: Marsh Harbour, Freeport, Nassau.
Cuba: you can sometimes pick up trips to Cuba, cool and worth the experience.

As I said, we may have changed some of these, but that's the ones I recall.

 

Pontius Pilot - thanks for the info/advice. I actually have been contemplating taking a trip down to SJ for a few days to see how I would like it. To be honest my number one choice would be ERJ in ORD. I guess you could say I'm just really trying to be prepared for the worst case senario.

 

Pontius Pilot- Where did you commute from? are most flights there open? If I was to be based there I would try to commute from DFW.. comments, suggestions?

 

I commuted from the desert southwest through DFW most times. DFW flights (at least before passenger loads took a nose dive) were notoriously full and I was 9 times out of 10 in the jumpseat. Not a comfortable 5 hour flight, but the conversation and the view were usually good. I learned a lot about flying around hurricanes!

When commuting you always need a backup plan. For instance I went through Atlanta a few times, Houston once, Orlando a few times and Miami a bit. Sometimes I would go from home to DFW - DFW to MIA - spend the night in the crew room and then catch the morning flight to SJU. You can always get there, you just have to be creative and willing to adapt your plans. I would say going out of DFW gives you a lot of options.

Furthermore you may consider flying on airlines other than AA to get there. You have to pay to fly AA and it was costing me around $40 roundtrip from SJU - DFW. It doesn't seem like a lot, but if you do it once a week it eats into your pay. Other airlines are free. I've taken Delta, Continental, AirTran and Spirit just to save money.

Commuting takes a lot out of you. I probably have more time on the flight deck of a 757 than I have right seat in the ATR. But if you have to do it, you have to do it. Its a hard lifestyle and I don't know many that enjoy it. But it can be a means to an end.

 

If I had it all to do over again, I would've taken ORD and gotten on the CRJ (nobody wanted the CRJ in my new hire class). The ERJ would've worked just as well though. I'm not sure they will allow you to chose bases when they start hiring again - but definitely visit SJU if you get a choice and are thinking about it. I wish I would have done it.

 

thanks for the info.. are they sending a good amount of pilots to SJU? Even though they brought some of the ATRs to DFW?? how hard is it to hold DFW ATR?

 

Since they cut flying down in SJU by quite a bit, they really don't have as great a need as they used to. I don't know about the seniority at DFW because it keeps changing - a lot of the former Saab pilots are still being trained on the ATR and former ERJ guys are coming over too. My friend just did IOE this week, he went from ERJ DFW to ATR DFW. So until training is all done it will be hard to figure. I don't think it will be hard to hold. MIA is usually very senior and SJU is packed with the people who want to be there right now. So you don't have the chances of getting sent to SJU that you used to.

 

I figured that base choice isn't going to happen, but it is nice to know the likelihood of SJU is less if there are people that like it there and staffing is fine in SJ. I wouldn't mind most of the other bases, I don't think I would like LAX, SJU, or DFW...

I just want a different job right now... At least I'm still flying I guess.

 

Don't worry about getting stuck in LA when the music starts again. That base is as senior as it gets. I would figure JFK and ORD being the first bases to get staffed with new hires. That being said, I would not expect a choice this time around. It was nice while it lasted and while we were short-staffed in every base but times have changed, recruiting will be easier for the company and not all bases need pilots.

 

One last thing that stinks about SJU:

Its hot and humid and the aircraft have no APU and we don't use hotel mode. The ground air units don't have a chance. It is a sweat box in those things until you get to about 10,000'. I almost forgot that one! I don't miss that at all!