Questions about commuting, domiciles, reserve.

[DrewBlows]

Plan on half a day every time you commute, sometimes it will be less time, sometimes it will be more. Over the course of a month this adds up to two to five days you will waste just getting to and from work. At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

My suggestion is to position yourself so you don't have to commute while at a regional airline. This may mean commuting for a while until your seniority can hold a base you are willing to live in. If you provided more information about where you want to live, Skywest, Eagle, Mesa, and ExpressJet guys could give you more insight about the seniority of each base and commuting information from other places. Good luck.

 

[Vegaspilot99]

At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

BINGO! Hence the reason I left the regionals (again) to pursue flying locally until that type of job can be had.

 

[Talian]

Plan on half a day every time you commute, sometimes it will be less time, sometimes it will be more. Over the course of a month this adds up to two to five days you will waste just getting to and from work. At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

My suggestion is to position yourself so you don't have to commute while at a regional airline. This may mean commuting for a while until your seniority can hold a base you are willing to live in. If you provided more information about where you want to live, Skywest, Eagle, Mesa, and ExpressJet guys could give you more insight about the seniority of each base and commuting information from other places. Good luck.

The places that I would consider living are the southwest, AZ or CA and the northeast, PHL area. I have already researched the domiciles for the airlines that I would be interested in, but I would like advice from you guys that work for Eagle, Skywest, Mesa, Express Jet and Air Wisconsin as to what the most junior FO bases are and any estimate of reserve times. Thanks for any advice...