Don't bank on it. Plan on the worst case scenario of uncommutable Milwaukee lines and hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised a few times. Don't take the job expecting that creative bargaining with scheduling will bail you out on a regular basis or you'll end up very frustrated. Chicago shouldn'ttake long to hold as a reserve and would probably be better than MKE as a lineholder but everything is subject to change.

I mean no disrespect here, but are you sure working for an airline is what you want to do?

Maybe when we are much more properly staffed.

I can still remember when I used to be able to drop a last turn or leg in a domicile so I could get home, but it seems like a faint memory these days. We will need to be much more fat on staffing before drops and swaps can be relied on for commutability.

What’s this “drop” thing you speak of? It sounds useful. Did they go extinct along with this mythical “reserve” pilot I keep hearing about?

[I mean no disrespect here, but are you sure working for an airline is what you want to do?]

That is precisely why I'm asking these questions up front.

It has become something us "old timers" talk about now.

"Back when I was on the 146 flying to Aspen we were able to drop turns, those were the days"

I think the last time I was able to drop a turn was probably Christmas morning 2010-ish. Has anyone even tried lately? 😂

I get it. You are doing the right thing by asking questions.

airlinepilot.life has some pretty good discussions on general pilot schedule questions and might be a good resource.

I think you've just found out that living in base is very important to you. I'd make that a priority in the airlines you're researching.

[airlinepilot.life]

Informative site. Thanks for the tip!