MIA Base
 

Hi all! I’ll be starting soon and live in FL. Curious about the MIA base. What kind of trips are offered and looking for schedule insight? As a junior Fo is SDF a better option? Just looking for insight as MIA is a 4 hr drive vs a plane ride.

Just looked at the bottom 20 or so awards. Looks like you would be getting night turns, VTO, or week on week off. Obviously the turn lines would be hard to do with that commute without a crash pad (good luck on that). VTOs are hit and miss. MIA week on are good in that they are almost all commercial in and commercial out so that would solve most of your commuting issues but bad in that they are mostly, if not all, night sort flying. From what I've heard junior guys in SDF get better flying than that. Also keep in mind south florida traffic. I live 35 miles from MIA...my commute can be anywhere from 35 minutes to 3 hours.

Thanks for the insight!

I personally wouldn't care to drive 4 hours for every trip. You have to consider how alert you will be for a full duty day if you leave the house possibly 5 1/2 to 6 hours before pushback. I suppose you could leave a little earlier and catch a nap before show time, which means you would leave maybe 7 to 8 hours before pushback? You might do better just driving to the nearest airport and flying, whether it's SDF or MIA. There are number of folks that drive similar distances and they manage it, so it would just depend on your pain tolerance.

Generically speaking, if you can commute on company metal that will be far less stressful than a four hour drive each way. It might take longer but there will be numerous opportunities to close your eyes for a few minutes/hours. I’m assuming you already know you won’t be starting on heavy day. If you get MIA and discover that your commute sucks all the joy out of life (it probably will), you can easily bid over to SDF domestic or international on the next system bid. No domicile seat lock, only airframe.

4hrs? Near MCO?

I wasn’t planning a daily commute, more of a week on and off schedule. It sounds like the plane ride might be better.

yes close to mco

Gotcha! Thank you!

Just an FYI from a south FL airline guy. The intra-Florida commutes (JAX-MIA, MCO-MIA, TPA-MIA) can be VERY competitive. Throw in a summer weather event (ie every day) and jumpseat availability evaporates in an instant.

Not saying it won't ever work for you, but just make sure you have alternate plans.