Howdy,
I'm trying to decide right now between Spirit and JetBlue and would be commuting for both. Obviously there's a big chance that the two become one anyway, but for the sake of argument in case the merger doesn't happen and QOL during the first two years I still need to decide. I live in the Southeast and would be commuting either way, probably to JFK for B6 and ATL for NK. I'm about a 4.5 hr drive from ATL, which is somewhat reassuring in case there's significant IROPS I could always drive in or rent a car & drive home. But I've been based there as a regional pilot, and even commuting on the mainline carrier where we had nonrev benefits (albeit at the lowest priority) started to get more difficult. I've done the math & if I bought all my tickets and averaged 4 trips per month, it would cost me between $10k-20k per year -- basically lowering my hourly pay by $13-23 per hour depending on the route (to ATL or JFK) and the airline. I think this is something I could live with both for the added peace of mind and to not have to drive the additional 1700 miles per month to ATL (which carries its own set of risks).
I know moving to base is always the obvious choice but with my wife's work there is almost no chance of that happening within the next 10 years. Given that, here are the pros & cons as I see them:
NK -- ATL
Pros: shorter flight, more flights per day (6-7), first flight to base arrives before 7am & last flight home is usually after 10pm; could drive if absolutely had to; easier to move between terminals at airport; better schedule flexibility as lineholder
Cons: more expensive route (monopoly by mainline); NK long call gets used a lot from what I hear; commute route not served by Spirit
B6 - JFK
Pros: route served by JetBlue; good number of flights (2 on B6, 3 on a different regional); I've heard B6 might be better for LCR
Cons: longer flight, first flight into base wouldn't arrive until about 9:30am, last flight home leaves before 8pm; more time to move between Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 if needed
How are the routes or commutability at JetBlue between 10am and 7pm? Is there anything I'm missing? I think with the LCR not showing before 2pm, worst case I might need a hotel on the back of the assignment but would rarely need to come in a day early.
Lastly, most commuter clauses deal with needing 1 or 2 flights when jumpseating. How would these apply if I were buying my tickets, and reported late due to a flight delay (maintenance, weather, crew, etc) that was outside of my control and not an issue of me not getting the jumpseat?
Thanks in advance.