Commuting out of ATL
 

I'm an ORD-based regional reserve pilot looking to move to Atlanta because it has a lot of direct flights, I like the city, and it's back in the southeast. My significant other can also easily find a job there, and cost of living is low. I'm curious what people's experience commuting to/from ATL is. My airline doesn't carry for Delta, so I cannot see loads or list in advance. I'm a united express guy... I'm just curious to see what people think about ATL, and if anyone has other recommendations for highly commutable cities. I may transfer to IAD in a few months, and that commute to ATL is bad - last flight out of IAD is 5:30 pm most days...

You can call or text your friend that is a Delta pilot. ;)

ATL to anywhere in Florida is a nightmare. ATL to another DL hub is a nightmare. Any other city...it's hit or miss. You'll learn the sweet spots.

I'm ATL based and although I live there, about once a month I'll go back up to Chicago to visit friends or family. Usually I go into MDW and have never had a problem. The train ride from MDW to ORD is about 1:30-1:45. AirTran does a really good job getting pilots on board if DL is booked up for me. When time doesn't let me go into MDW, there's enough flights to ORD with enough carriers that I'll always get there eventually. Last Sunday I got on an 20:25 Frontier flight, no issues, plane not full.

UA stays pretty full out of ATL to all their hubs. DAL has like 10 flights a day to ORD and maybe 5 to MDW. They are slammed some days, wide open on others. M/F are the worst. Lots of commuters on this route. Not sure what SWA is doing these days, but I do know they have a few direct flights to MDW. Also consider if any weather hits Chicago or Atlanta, you're going to be SOL. Especially winter weather in ATL.

ATL has a lot of flights but they can be packed with standby lists over 100 people deep. Flights mid-week during off times can be wide open. Trying to get home on a Friday or Sunday during a morning or evening flight? Oversold with lots of non revs that will always go ahead of you. As someone else above said, avoid Florida at all costs.

I commute from Miami to Atlanta and if there weren't 20+ flights a day I would be royally f$&@3d. Haven't tried Atlanta to Chicago. Depends on what regional you fly for. Skywest has a few flights on that route so if you work for them or Expressjet you would have priority on own metal. You do not want to commute from IAD to ATL. Or ATL to any other delta hub. Any other airline other than delta to/from Atlanta is pretty commutable. For example, if you get on a flight from Atlanta to Miami on an American flight, it's usally only half full, while a delta flight is oversold by 10 with 50 standbys.

Commuting out of ATL
 

ATL commuting is the devil !!! At least it is from most Florida cities ... I would plan on having to go to MdW as a back up several times via southwest ,.. The non rev list on delta can be in the hundreds ..

I've been commuting from ATL-ORD for the past 3 months and have had zero problems. I've somehow made it on every flight I have attempted. I did have to do MDW once due to ORD weather cancellations (high winds). I also only have UA benefits. There are over 25 fligts a day on 5 different carriers (American, Delta, Frontier, Spirit, and United), so plenty of options . ATL-IAD is much tougher. That commute usually has about 10 overbooked flights a day between Delta, Frontier, and United. There are also a TON of commuters on ATL-IAD.

It generally sucks. Period!

So which one of you is correct? We all know commuting sucks but this guy is genuinely looking for good advice

Thanks so much guys for your help!
 

Glad people mentioned IAD because I thought about transferring there - I think I'll stick with ORD. Noted that FL sucks for commuting! I've been through ATL a few times going to visit family in FL and have had good luck but would be tough on a regular basis.

I can't recall if you mentioned who you work for but let me preface this by saying I am ASA and therefore I am referring to riding on DL. If United is easy, great but this is what I found on DL.

Every city can be different but I commuted there for 4 years. The biggest problem with ATL I experianced is they use it a lot in reroutes when there are problems elsewhere in the country. Could be anywhere. Someone misses their flight in LGA/JFK, well now they are probably going through ATL and the stacks of HKs start adding up. The only predictability to ATL loads is that they will be worse than they look the day prior. Add into that and now mainline is taking over most of the flights we (LASA) used to do and now we loose priority. Not complaining but it's something to consider depending on who you work for and how your priority works.

3 months of good commuting doesn't make it easy. Wait until you go through a winter in ATL and spring break. Both are a nightmare. Airport can be back logged for days.

"Someone misses their flight in LGA/JFK, well now they are probably going through ATL and the stacks of HKs start adding up." <--- THIS so true, will drive you nuts some days - or just try and go as early as possible to avoid some of the HK factor on DL. AT/SWA is indeed a good backup in lieu of riding on DL - 3/4 of the time seats in First Class are open on AT.

I never said ATL-ORD is a "good commute." That's a bit of an oxymoron. I just want you to know my experiences on this commute so far. I too heard the horror stories and maybe it is much worse at different times of the year. I also have only used Delta a couple times for the exact reasons that others mentioned in this thread regarding passenger reroutes and such. My main point is if your options are ATL-ORD or ATL-IAD, go with ATL-ORD. At least you have more options for your commuter clause.

Commuting sucks any way you slice it. Good luck to you and hope it works out for you.

Thanks for the tips! Anything is better than the current commute...3 flights and earliest I get home is 3-5 pm depending on day