Yes, you can commute from the west coast to HI. I do it, and about 20% of our pilot group does it. Yes, it subtracts from days at home. Yes, it's cheaper to live on the mainland. Just do what is right for you. I know UA & DL pilots who commute west coast to east coast for work, so that's no different than going the other way.

HAL

Ironically I know of a DL pilot, one each, that lives in Maui and Kauai that commute to the West coast to go to work.

You can find cheaper housing on the outer islands but they are much more rural. So just like living in a small town vs a big city on the mainland, you will have less selection of other things in life. like schools, doctors, shopping,etc. The big difference, on the mainland you can drive to the big city when you need to, in HI you will need to fly to get to Oahu. When I worked for WP we looked into living on the one of the outer islands. For us it was not worth the hassle of having to fly to Oahu for certain things. We were able to find a nice apartment for decent price after searching for a while. and that was on first year pay at WP (which at the time was much lower than HAL)
But I know several pilots that live on the outer islands, so just depends on what is important to you and your family. If you are single, it ill be 10 times easier.

I mean this with all due respect, but the insight you should be getting is the macro level stuff (Pay, company climate, cost of living, etc.). If you have made yourself familiar with the macro stuff, and this does not present a problem to you, then I would say commuting is doable but will come at a price that may or may not be worth it, given your own personal criteria. I don't commute, but fly with several pilots that do and the spectrum ranges from happy to unhappy. It all boils down to your personal threshold. As you may already know, there is no commuter clause or plan at the present time to institute one at HAL, although this could change given the changing composition of the pilot group.

sp

Agreed on this.

My example: SFO based, live outside SMF. Big, nice, new house (small lot though), great schools, very good neighborhood of young professional families, and better weather than almost every place I fly to (except Hawaii).

Total cost? Half mil and a 100 mile drive to work.

I don't regret it in the least.

Commuting is a huge QOL issue. Time off is worth money as well as the other factors. You'll still need a crashpad in HNL.
If you get the job, take it. If something better comes along later, take that. Realistically, you are looking at $900k plus for a decent house in an area you want to live in. Its a good gig, but the big picture in this career matters.

Wasn't SEA the last mainland base to close? So for the HNL and OGG trips that overnight in SEA, do those go senior for those who used to be based there and prefer home overnights? Does your PBS allow you to group trips together, like 6-8 days on so you an have 5-7 days off pattern?

We're all grown ups ( for the most part) only the person knows what's best for his/her family or situation.

I choose not to commute for the following reasons:

-Not having to worry about my schedule every month
-more time at home
-don't have to do an 18-20 day stretch away from home
-ability to bid reserve and be home ALOT
-able to upgrade without worrying about schedule
- time is money- how much is your commuting time worth. And does the savings make it worth it to commute

As a junior guy expect to do a lot of LAX and LAS. 11-12 days off a month. And while we have the ability to group it all together, how much will it suck to have random days off between trips?

We have plenty of Sea and PDX guys that gobble up most of those trips. You may get one here or there but probably not a whole months worth.

We thought about commuting to a HA city. In the end we felt that me being around with my kids outweighed saving $5000/yr on private schools and $800/month in state income tax.

Does anyone have any contact info of crashpads near HNL for pilots/FA. I tried craigslist and google and only found one and the guy wasn't responding to my texting him. I figure there has to be more than one!! Please PM me contact info...urgently need a pad

Much thx

Can anyone provide insight on commuter policy/bidding/seat guarantee? Is it a seniority system, first come first serve, or dedicated seat?

I'll be living mainland if manage to fly long-haul, not west coast so I don't imagine many other Hawaiian pilots will be commuting from the same airport but you never know.

Thanks