IAD/DCA base
 

Hey guys and gals, I'm really excited to start class in August! My wife and I are really interested in moving to Virginia for the D.C. base, however, I don't know anyone based there that can give any insight. So I am hoping some of you could help to give a general overall feel for the base and surrounding area.

Some questions at the top of my head I can think of: Do most of the trips originate in IAD? How is the trip mix in the different aircraft categories, are you happy with the pairings?

As for living in Virginia, I'm willing to drive up to an hour and want to be more in the country in a smaller community as opposed to the city. Any recommendations on areas good for families? (i.e. Good community, schools, healthcare, family activities?)

Thank you for your time and help!

I am not based in DCA/IAD/BWI, but you will have to support all three airports. Most of the flying is out of IAD, but if you get the Guppy, you could be flying out of DCA or BWI.

Welcome to UAL!

Getting DC based as a New Hire is extremely unlikely as we haven’t had any unfilled openings here recently. So plan on commuting initially till you can get a lateral.

All the narrowbody aircraft cover IAD/DCA/BWI with the majority of the flying done out of IAD (since that’s the hub) with DCA usually next and then BWI on order of amount of flying on the 737/320.

For example in August on the Airbus the Trip start breakdown is 175 IAD, 54 DCA, and 39 BWI. It fluctuates month to month but IAD is always to majority of flying.

Within a hour from IAD gets you a lot of options in Virginia, and northern Maryland. I’m a city guy so will let others recommend specific towns but some popular places seem to be Herndon, Leesburg, Warrenton, and Winchester in Virginia. Frederick and the I-270 corridor in Maryland are also options.

Good luck and again welcome to United.

Welcome to the jungle!

Reston, Brambleton, and or Manassas. But you'll be hating life, if you have to cover for DCA or BWI during rush hour. My personal opinion is living a long the metro line within the beltway.

Derek,

We just went through the process of filtering the NOVA (Northern VA) options. What we did was layout a priority list (schools, houses, commute - wife works). Ended up staying put but the list helped us zero in schools, then communities. Food for thought.

Cheers,
Biff

If you want some really crappy public schools with way over priced real estate, take a look at Annapolis.

Many guys live west of Dulles and are happy with the commute.

PG, you need to move out of Nap town.

Metro out to IAD will be open in the next year... so that will make the commute out to DCA for NB flights much more agreeable... I’d recommend looking from IAD To the West... cheaper further you go.

Come down towards Richmond, certain areas have good schools and cost of living is much, much lower. Drive time is 1:45 to IAD best case, 2:30 is usually the max except weekends during the summer. I’ve only seen over 3 hours once, the night before thanksgiving with a wintry mix occurring.

You can get a nice, big house under $400K. My house is smaller but I think it’s nice, about $250K.