The commute from MCO to either JFK or LGA is not bad at all.

The key to mco is being able to read the standby lists and when to go to the next option. A later flight could look wide open but if you don't see the oversold by 10plus on the first flight and the 30 NRSAs you will be shocked how fast things go south. Even 1 canceled flight early or the night before can cause issues. Not sure how many times I have gone to sleep and the first two flights to iah will have 20-30 open seats to then wake up and it's oversold by 20.

Plus on united they roll over the non united pilots on the jumpseat list (which I think is wrong). Someone can show up early knowing they won't make the flight and it will roll over to each flight before another jumpseater can even get to the gate to list when the gate agent shows up. Personally I feel it should be even/fair game for each flight for those UAX/OA where the list is flushed after each flight and those only with UA should be rolled over to the next flight.

It doesn't matter if you can read the standby list correctly if the only flight options left for the day are both United flights to MCO or a 2-leg option that will only get you halfway home that night. You know you're not going to make it home most likely and still sit at the gate waiting and hoping that the two United pilots listed for the 1 jumpseat don't show up.

Commuting at all? You crazy?

Yah i agree crazy to Orlando. But can't see living in ewr lga iad pit.

what about dtw?

thanks a bunch

The thing with any Florida city is the Florida/Georgia border. Once you cross it going in the direction you want to go, things get much simpler (weather depending). But thousands of pilots and FAs live in Florida, so you will wind up wasting gobs of time. Having lived and been based there, I can vouch that the commute is pretty tough.

I've commuted to and been based in DTW before as well. It's easier than some, and harder than others. Relatively few pilots live there (it is, after all, Detroit). It's always easier to travel on whatever airline you work for (or, if you are regional pilot, on the brand you code-share with) than it is on other carriers.

If you are not willing to live in base for whatever reason (and it must be reiterated that living in base will make your life much, much more enjoyable), I'd choose a mid-sized city that is served with a lot of frequency from a number of carriers or that has service to all of the major hubs. RDU, for example, or BNA, or someplace similar. What you want to avoid is living somewhere that is only served by RJs. That will bite you at some point--probably at many "some points."

Playing the odds is reading the standby lists. Plus tribal knowledge helps too. Like knowing the first flight from iah to mco has a large miss connect rate due to people being stuck in customs. Knowing that sometimes flying west then east can help. Lax/phx/SFO/las/sea typically have red eye flights to mco. Obviously that can be restrictive. The last flights from iah to mco usually has TPA flight leaving near the departure time ($20 rental car usually). If a flight is oversold with multiple mainline jumpseaters I am looking at other options including fedex vs spending the night. Thinking on your feet and knowing when to cut your losses, having tribal knowledge, sometimes having lots of luck or "commuting karma points" can make or break you getting home or to work.

I'm not saying it's easy, but I have known commuters to think outside the box to get home and a few times they beat me home. From noting getting home from rolling standby lists to flying IAH-AUS-MCO. Or iah-lax-MCO. (Cheaper than a hotel)

The understatement of the year................. I"m surprised there's not fist fights at the gate. LOL

Mco commuter out of here. Only once I had to take the next flight in a whole year.

If you work weekends, usually there's less people commuting.

It all depends where you are commuting to out of Orlando. I tried MCO to DFW and MCO to ATL for months I didn't make it on 90% of the flights I tried. I had to give up most days and go back to the crash pad after missing 5-6 consecutive flights. I now commute out of MCO to a non mainline base and I have made it on all of the flights I've tried over the last couple years (been on the JS a lot but a seat is a seat).