Commuting from Europe to a U.S. Regional
 

Hey y'all,

Does any one here commute from Europe or know of someone who successfully commutes from Europe to a U.S. Regional? Is it possible to structure your schedule after picking up open time and swapping trips to get 7-10 days off in a row? How easy is it to jumpseat to and from Germany and what are the pit-falls to watch out for?

I'm looking at getting my career back on the airline track that I intended to follow when I was in college 15 years ago. Along the way I picked up a European spouse that is now homesick. Flying Single Engine Helicopters probably won't land me an interview with the Majors, although my applications are in.

The biggest thing I've flown is a Casa 212 and I know I need turbojet airliner time if I want to succeed in the industry here in the U.S. or on the old continent. Any stories of success or nightmares would be a great help in wargaming my future.

Thanks for the Help!

Its possible - but will be very rough. When you start you'll be reserve so you will need to commute in just to sit and wait for a possible call. Also if you only have 2 days off commuting home may possibly mean 5 or 6 hours at home before commuting back. That being said I know of a flight attendant at my airline that commutes from singapore and at my last airline there was a puerto rico commuter and an England commuter.

Once you hold a line you should be able to trade/swap trips to get 2 or 3 weeks of flying followed by 1 or 2 weeks off. (Save for the rest between trips in a crashpad).

Also I think you have to pay the international taxes if your jump-seating out of the country, but I don't know for sure.

Difficult yes, but not impossible.

Hope this helps.

It can be done. My airline has/had a flight attendant commute from Prague to ORD. Another guy commuted from Bangkok. There is currently an FO here that lives part time in Athens. They seem to be in the same boat as you. A significant other living overseas so they make the commute.

Their magic is base seniority and without it I think you'll be struggling to get 4 days in a row off consistently. With it, you should be able to drop a 4 day trip between two blocks of days off and get 12 days at home.

I don't live in Europe but travel there extensively. Commuting is doable, but it all depends on how much you are willing to commute.

In the beginning before you have any seniority plan to spend only one or two days at home tops. Once you can hold a line things will be better.

I know of people who commute from Alaska to ORD and JFK which is much, MUCH worse than a commute from Western Europe to the American East Coast.

I also know of flight attendants who live in Brazil and commute to MIA, a pilot who lives in Ireland and commutes to JFK, among others.

So it is not impossible. Like I said before, just be ready to be away from home quite a bit while on Reserve.

If you have time I am just curious. Have you checked into the European helo operators like Britow? Are those 80-100K Euros a year jobs? Are the US regionals still the best option with EU work rights? What do you speculate the Lufthansa feed jobs are paying?

Even a short commute while on reserve is brutal. You may get 24 hours at home once a week, if your schedule breaks a certain way. A long commute like that may very well kill you, if your spouse doesn't first. I'm not being flippant, just realistic. I would not recommend it.

If an international commute doesn't ruin a marriage, I would be shocked!

Not possible on reserve, and probably very impractical as a low-seniority lineholder.

But once you're around 50% or better, it can be done and people do it. Sounds rough though. I'm beat for two days after I cross the pond. I can function, but it's not really fun.

Doing a commute like that, your quality of life will approach zero.

Most regionals give you 11 days off a month. You will have to commute in the day before as a junior pilot on reserve. You'll be lucky to get 5 days a month at home--and they won't be in a row. Now if all this attrition that's supposed to happen comes to fruition suddenly, it becomes a lot more doable as your seniority increases. But at XJT, even the middle of the pack guys get 14-15 days off; that's it. The schedule would actually probably be better than a commute from the east coast to the west coast of the USA. You could work all day, then catch the late bank of planes going to Europe, and arrive on the continent early the next morning--that is IF you can get a stby seat or don't mind paying for ZED fares. Cockpit jump seating is not allowed.