whalesurfer

Happiness is inversely proportional to ones distance from the mothership.

Commuting sucks, no doubt about that. ..and we're very vocal about issues we're dealing with, i.e. nurp pilot hiring, schedules, catering, etc.

However, I venture to say most of us enjoy our jobs. So if you were to start tomorrow I predict you'd adjust to the peculiarities of working for brown very quickly and you'd end up enjoying working here. Some of our pilots might disagree with me on this but that's my perception.

Good luck to you.

Deacon211

A truism if ever I heard one.

Sounds like pretty positive experiences all around. Maybe with a little luck, I'll see you guys out there someday!

Thanks again.

Deacon

Swedish Blender

It is a complete PITA. I don't think you'll ever meet someone who has anything good to say about the commute. If something in Asia breaks and you listed yourself for the j/s ANC-SDF, it gets a little dicey getting a seat especially since you don't find out until you land. Flights get swapped from a big top to a -400F or a -400F to a MD and you get bumped because there are fewer seats. The company decides at the last minute to put on must rides and bump j/s'ers.

Sluggo_63

Maybe that's how you meant it, but I think you meant "happiness is directly proportional to ones distance from the mothership."
i.e. The greater the distance from SDF (or MEM) the greater the happiness.

Archie Bunker

That's because commuting to ANC stinks...and that's coming from a guy that did it for 8 years from SoCal.

If somebody chose to commute from SDF, at least they have more than one company flight a day to make it up there. From SoCal you have one company MD-11 that leaves at 2am for the non-stop to ANC. There's an IRO on that flight 4 days a week, so that leaves 4 available jumpseats per night...not counting company P3 jumpseaters (which there are usually 2 75/76 crew members in that capacity).

If you can't get on that seat, you're more than likely two legging it on Alaska Airlines through SEA or PDX. Getting to SEA or PDX usually isn't the problem. The SEA-ANC leg is the problem, especially in the summertime. You will find yourself and 20 of your best friends moving from gate to gate trying to hitch a ride up there.

The Alaska crews have always been great about their jumpseat. The majority of Capts will take 2 jumpseaters in the cockpit, even though it's extremely crowded and uncomfortable for everyone up there. I've only had a couple that would only take one in the cockpit, and I really don't blame them a bit.

In the 8 years I commuted up there, I was never late, or missed a sign in, but I had some close calls where I just barely made it up there in time.

That all being said, it's not all bad being based in ANC. IMHO, if you're on the 747-400, you're on the best aircraft flying the best trips. I ended up staying in ANC years longer than I had to because of the aircraft and trips. After 8 years, I had finally had enough of the commute, and decided to bid back to ONT. I miss the aircraft, the trips and the crews, but I don't miss the commute.

NotMrNiceGuy

Nice post!


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Deacon211

Thanks for that as well. Some of the difficulty of getting to ANC was what I was gathering from the guys that I had met.

Again, not right or wrong answers. But it's good to hear all sides of the argument.

McBoeingBus

Don't forget about the senior F/O or CA that cherry picks the one way trip and "offers" the fly-no-pay for commuter. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of.

whalesurfer

Don't think it happens that often although I've done a few FNPs for a guy who later told me those were OT pickup. I was ok with it since contractually it's his right to pick up open time and I had to get there anyways. Besides, there's no guarantee someone will volunteer to fly his OT pickups..

We have many captains who're buddies with managers and pick up OT trips knowing they'll be displaced off of them. Wonder if the new contract will change that?

Back to the topic though - the quality of life for '04-'06 new hires was vastly different for the '07 new hires. Hopefully the current cadre of new hires will only experience positive development in their careers.

whalesurfer

I think you're right.
..and here I was trying to pretend I knew what I was talking about.. Dang it!!