Prior mil, getting my ATP in January and will be sending out Apps everywhere. I live in Vegas where SWA, Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit have domiciles.

If I am lucky enough to get job interview/CJOs from a legacy where I’d have to commute AND a ULCC where I could live in base I’m not sure what the smartest choice would be. Has anyone else had to make a similar decision?

How firm is your attachment to LAS? Is Nellis just where you happened to separate, or do you have roots there? Living in base is pretty much ALWAYS better but no guarantee you get LAS right out of indoc regardless, even for a ULCC.

Makes a big difference.

Legacy hands down

While I’m not super attached, my Wife and young kids have definitely grown fond of Vegas living and I’d like to keep them as happy as possible.

SWA, maybe. Otherwise legacy for sure. Try the commute for a while and move if you need to.

Live in base. Quality of life is soooooo much better

What are you priorities? Time off? Schedule flexibility? Widebodies? Compensation? Retirement? Travel benefits?

Anyone saying “”legacies hands down” without knowing what your priorities are is not doing you any good.

I went to a LCC because I lived in base, every friend I knew there (about 8) said the QOL was great as well as the work rules. I don’t need 350 a year to be happy...260/year with great work rules and no commuting is the recipe *for me*

Everyone is different. Prioritize your needs in order of importance (if you can put metrics to it even better) and you might get a more accurate answer.

I will say this...living in base? It’s like a totally different job than when I was commuting. I didn’t realize how much better untilI no longer had to commute.

Best of luck!

V/R,

Chunk

Chunk,

Thanks for the detailed answer.

My priorities: (Greatest to least)
Time off, schedule flexibility, compensation and retirement, don’t care about widebody or travel benefits.

ULCC in base is better than legacy commuting then. Legacy in base is obviously the best case scenario, but commuting takes away so many opportunities and flexibility. Plus it adds time away and stress to your life

With those priorities I would go ULCC. Having said that, I would still strongly suggest reversing your priorities....

(probably not the travel benefits so much)