Time to leave DTW?
03-03-2021, 04:28 AM
#1
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Joined APC: May 2017
Posts: 78
Time to leave DTW?
Ah Detroit, once a wonderful little place for junior pilots to skip the reserve line and hit the ground running, work 90+ a month, avoid the chaos of ORD and the like, and experience some variety. But, as some of us know, with the displacement, DTW has become, more or less, a barren wasteland, full of EAS routes and repetitive 900 routes that largely go senior. In Feb, I went from 49% to 88% but was grateful to "make the cut" and stay home, i.e., I didn't have to become a commuter. But, quickly (as you can see, being that it's only been a month since the displacement) I am experiencing what one might call an "aviation existential crisis". I.e., I'm friggin' bored. in addition to that, frankly, I don't see how anyone can think this domicile will make a "comeback"... The grass seems greener almost everywhere else at OO and I've begun to peak at Bid Transparency and now my gears are spinning.
But, it's not like life is bad, or I'm miserable here. On reserve, I barely work, I'm home a lot, I drive 25mins to the airport. We love where we live, without going into detail on why. It's a great set up, and thankfully I didn't buy a home before the displacement, but we've got a great rental home, in a great area. I can kind of pick and choose my schedule, on reserve, and I've got a decent amount of free time. This is all great, except, from a career stand point, like I said, I'm bored. I feel like in the 2.25yrs that I've been here, I'm suddenly going backwards. Obviously, that statement is in the eye of the beholder; you might say I'm going forward, because my QOL seems quite good.
I can transition to the ERJ (something new, largely better trips, much much more variety, better paying trips) at a specific base and bid 50%...
Any of you face this conundrum recently or in the past? Give up what I have now for something new, move across the country, etc? Not looking to be told what to do, just trying to hear the sage, wise advice of my fellow OOers.
Thanks y'all. Stay safe out there.
But, it's not like life is bad, or I'm miserable here. On reserve, I barely work, I'm home a lot, I drive 25mins to the airport. We love where we live, without going into detail on why. It's a great set up, and thankfully I didn't buy a home before the displacement, but we've got a great rental home, in a great area. I can kind of pick and choose my schedule, on reserve, and I've got a decent amount of free time. This is all great, except, from a career stand point, like I said, I'm bored. I feel like in the 2.25yrs that I've been here, I'm suddenly going backwards. Obviously, that statement is in the eye of the beholder; you might say I'm going forward, because my QOL seems quite good.
I can transition to the ERJ (something new, largely better trips, much much more variety, better paying trips) at a specific base and bid 50%...
Any of you face this conundrum recently or in the past? Give up what I have now for something new, move across the country, etc? Not looking to be told what to do, just trying to hear the sage, wise advice of my fellow OOers.
Thanks y'all. Stay safe out there.
03-03-2021, 04:42 AM
#2
Banned
Joined APC: Jul 2017
Posts: 894
I don’t know if I could do this job if I had to commute. You’re only 25 mins from the airport and you love where you live, and you’re home a lot. A lot of people would call you crazy to give that up! If your primary goal is to get to a better airline ASAP, then you can make the case that you should be flying as much as possible, hence moving to a busier base. As far as the boredom goes, try a new hobby or travel more.
03-03-2021, 04:56 AM
#3
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Joined APC: May 2017
Posts: 78
Originally Posted by 123494
I don’t know if I could do this job if I had to commute. You’re only 25 mins from the airport and you love where you live, and you’re home a lot. A lot of people would call you crazy to give that up! If your primary goal is to get to a better airline ASAP, then you can make the case that you should be flying as much as possible, hence moving to a busier base. As far as the boredom goes, try a new hobby or travel more.
03-03-2021, 05:36 AM
#5
Lives in Base
Joined APC: Mar 2011
Posts: 399
Stay put and ride out living in base as long as you can.
I came to OO from another airline to live in base（ATL）and everyone liked to ***** about the flying there too but, for me, driving to work was worth it. Plus, every other leg I was flying back to base, which gave me some peace knowing I was always close to my car in the event that there was a problem at home.
I've since displaced to DTW, was a commuter bidding top 20％ but, displaced prior to down－sizing to DFW for better seniority and trips；let me tell ya, I'd love some Dothan or Valdosta turns out of ATL right about now.
I came to OO from another airline to live in base（ATL）and everyone liked to ***** about the flying there too but, for me, driving to work was worth it. Plus, every other leg I was flying back to base, which gave me some peace knowing I was always close to my car in the event that there was a problem at home.
I've since displaced to DTW, was a commuter bidding top 20％ but, displaced prior to down－sizing to DFW for better seniority and trips；let me tell ya, I'd love some Dothan or Valdosta turns out of ATL right about now.
03-03-2021, 05:42 AM
#6
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Joined APC: May 2017
Posts: 78
Originally Posted by jpso
Stay put and ride out living in base as long as you can.
I came to OO from another airline to live in base（ATL）and everyone liked to ***** about the flying there too but, for me, driving to work was worth it. Plus, every other leg I was flying back to base, which gave me some peace knowing I was always close to my car in the event that there was a problem at home.
I've since displaced to DTW, was a commuter bidding top 20％ but, displaced prior to down－sizing to DFW for better seniority and trips；let me tell ya, I'd love some Dothan or Valdosta turns out of ATL right about now.
I came to OO from another airline to live in base（ATL）and everyone liked to ***** about the flying there too but, for me, driving to work was worth it. Plus, every other leg I was flying back to base, which gave me some peace knowing I was always close to my car in the event that there was a problem at home.
I've since displaced to DTW, was a commuter bidding top 20％ but, displaced prior to down－sizing to DFW for better seniority and trips；let me tell ya, I'd love some Dothan or Valdosta turns out of ATL right about now.
03-03-2021, 05:42 AM
#7
Banned
Joined APC: Jul 2017
Posts: 894
The more I read between the lines, you already know what you’re going to do: stay put
While things may suck in the interim, keep in mind that it’s cyclical and you’ll likely be busy again sometime soon. It’s probably not worth the trouble moving around, chasing the flying, etc.
While things may suck in the interim, keep in mind that it’s cyclical and you’ll likely be busy again sometime soon. It’s probably not worth the trouble moving around, chasing the flying, etc.
03-03-2021, 05:52 AM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2020
Posts: 498
Originally Posted by 123494
The more I read between the lines, you already know what you’re going to do: stay put
While things may suck in the interim, keep in mind that it’s cyclical and you’ll likely be busy again sometime soon. It’s probably not worth the trouble moving around, chasing the flying, etc.
While things may suck in the interim, keep in mind that it’s cyclical and you’ll likely be busy again sometime soon. It’s probably not worth the trouble moving around, chasing the flying, etc.
03-03-2021, 06:24 AM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2016
Posts: 323
I thought Dtw would close or be a strictly 200 EAS base for sure. Now I’m almost convinced it won’t close at all and may grow eventually. Several reasons why.
endeavor simply doesn’t have the fleet to handle Dtw, nyc, AND atl alone. At the peak of flying OO also had bases there as well. Another tidbit that swayed my thinking was brickyard, who has been doing quite a bit of Dtw flying recently, announced they are converting 20 delta planes to American.
As of now it looks like about a 70/30 split of 900/200 flying there. We’re already really short on reserves for the amount of flying/staffing there now and sending out of base reserves from Chicago (who happened to be former Dtw pilots) back to Dtw for reserve. As more and more travelers come back something will have to give and I think we might see some growth in dtw over the summer.
endeavor simply doesn’t have the fleet to handle Dtw, nyc, AND atl alone. At the peak of flying OO also had bases there as well. Another tidbit that swayed my thinking was brickyard, who has been doing quite a bit of Dtw flying recently, announced they are converting 20 delta planes to American.
As of now it looks like about a 70/30 split of 900/200 flying there. We’re already really short on reserves for the amount of flying/staffing there now and sending out of base reserves from Chicago (who happened to be former Dtw pilots) back to Dtw for reserve. As more and more travelers come back something will have to give and I think we might see some growth in dtw over the summer.
Last edited by Milksheikh; 03-03-2021 at 06:39 AM.
03-03-2021, 06:28 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
Joined APC: May 2017
Posts: 78
Originally Posted by Milksheikh
I thought Dtw would close or be a strictly 200 EAS bad for sure. Now I’m almost convinced it won’t close at all and may grow eventually. Several reasons why.
endeavor simply doesn’t have the fleet to handle Dtw, nyc, AND atl alone. At the peak of flying OO also had bases there as well. Another tidbit that swayed my thinking was brickyard, who has been doing quite a bit of Dtw flying recently, announced they are converting 20 delta planes to American.
As of now it looks like about a 70/30 split of 900/200 flying there. We’re already really short on reserves for the amount of flying/staffing there now and sending out of base reserves from Chicago (who happened to be former Dtw pilots) back to Dtw for reserve. As more and more travelers come back something will have to give and I think we might see some growth in dtw over the summer.
endeavor simply doesn’t have the fleet to handle Dtw, nyc, AND atl alone. At the peak of flying OO also had bases there as well. Another tidbit that swayed my thinking was brickyard, who has been doing quite a bit of Dtw flying recently, announced they are converting 20 delta planes to American.
As of now it looks like about a 70/30 split of 900/200 flying there. We’re already really short on reserves for the amount of flying/staffing there now and sending out of base reserves from Chicago (who happened to be former Dtw pilots) back to Dtw for reserve. As more and more travelers come back something will have to give and I think we might see some growth in dtw over the summer.
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