There's no commuter clause. You get stranded trying to commute, and it sounds like you're screwed. Pay raises will happen with a new CBA. THose take forever so don't hold your breath.

Two types of reserve. Home reserve, with ah 1.5hr callout and airport reserve. For both, you're going to need to be close. A few friends from a class a little earlier this year were reserve for the first month off IOE and have held lines since. I'm from STL, and commuting does not appeal to me so it shouldn't be an issue.

Only in my third day of class, but everybody I've met so far has been very friendly. The class ahead and current lineholders I've met so far have had lots of good advice and the sentiments about a good group of pilots seems spot on. Upgrades have not been more than three years for a long time and right now they're at or under 2 years.

Ease up on the questionmarks. You only need one to convey the point.

Where are the new hires in the class going? Are they getting their choice of base or being sent where needed? I asked for STL during the interview but I am afraid to get an apartment down there and then be sent off to RIC, especially since I know I am going to be low senority in my class. Thanks.

We haven't been assigned yet. About 10 want RIC in our class and the last class got the domicile they wanted. The general consensus is that this will be the case in this class due to the number that want RIC.

Recent classes where people were assigned RIC that didn't want it have bid back to STL within a month or two. A friend in the January class was initially assigned RIC but was reassigned STL before he was finished with training.

if it makes you feel any better, those of us in the Jan class were assigned RIC from day 1. thankfully most of the guys ahead of me and in the prior classes took RIC and i ended up getting back to STL as domicile before i finished the sim

one idea is to find a crashpad in either place and put most of your stuff in storage (or mom's as i like to call it). then, once you have your domicile assigned and passed IOE, start hunting for a place to live. it'll save a lot of cash that you don't have as a TSA employee, and keep you from getting rooted somewhere you don't have to be.

The pay will raise some, but the big focus is work rules...we all know that really has more to do with how much you make then hourly salary. And I would bet money that it will be AT LEAST a year before the contract is voted on. Last I heard, we only have 4 sections TA'd, and most of the rest have been presented to the company, and now we're waiting to hear what they come back with. There are 2 days of negotiations next week, so we'll see.