DFW-ORD Commute
 

Hey folks,
I am looking for some insight on how commutable ORD would be from DFW.
How bad is the commute and how commutable are republic's lines? I have heard the scheduling is pretty efficient...

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Chicago has commutable lines. Outstations like IND, CMH, and PIT do not. Have no idea about the commute.

It’s one thing if you live somewhere that does not have a domicile, but don’t choose to commute when you have companies with bases where you live. Any advantages from one company will be cancelled out by commuting. Also as has been said before, RAH is potentially going to close ORD so don’t go there for that.

I'm not an employee, but as a former frequent flyer, this route is exceptionally competitive for revenue passengers on standby. Although there are LOTS of flights each day, flown primarily by AA, I wouldn't feel super good about getting on as a non-rev, even with the sheer quantity of seats. Being two large hubs for airlines means there are lots of frequent flyer elite passengers trying to change itineraries, get home earlier, etc. Add on to them the AA employees who would have priority, I assume for everything, it could be tough.

Reiterating that I've never personally done this as a non-rev, and the dynamics could be entirely different. Just thought I'd share my perspective from a past life.

RAH is not going to close ORD. As a matter of fact, if the acquisition of TSA goes through ORD will grow dramatically.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I'm still undecided but DFW has Envoy, Mesa, and supposedly Skywest is opening..
Envoy is the only option I would be interested in, it usually takes a few months to get awarded DFW on the FO side and then they are forcing upgrades which will force me back out of DFW again. Kinda sounds like I would be in for a lot of commuting anyway, so I might as well commute to a company with more efficient scheduling and a stronger contract. I figured ORD wouldn't be too bad and theres always a slim chance of IAH one day once it all shakes out.

But I'm obviously still new to this, so all the advice is welcome!

If history and past practice is any indication and this rumored merger goes through it will be complete CF for the pilots and the seniority list. The size of ORD will not be very high on the list of concerns.

Nor will closing it, which you seem to like to claim is going to happen even though there is zero indication of it, will be either. Especially when they inherit the ORD flying from TSA and their subsidiaries.



Word is that the Majors have had enough with RAH's increasing the size of their outstation bases and the increased deadheading and half full originating and terminating flights that comes with it.

Not entirely true. Outstation commutable trips do exist, just not many of them. You have to be senior to hold them. I was Indy based for 5 years and held commutable trips my last two years in base. Remember, one person’s definition of commutable will be different from another’s depending on their commuting options from their home airport.

Meanwhile, ORD shrinks monthly and CMH becomes RJETs largest base.