Jack Schitt
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2003
- Posts
- 189
FlyChicaga said:After having lived in base (30 minutes front door to cabin door), and now commuting, I can say that living is base will ALWAYS be better than commuting. That said, right now I'd prefer commuting than moving into base. It's a cheaper cost of living here, and with plenty of flights per day, it doesn't give me that much heartache. I keep a crashpad, since it's cheap, even if I don't use it. I can say the only thing that commuting has allowed me is more time to read and listen to music. All that free time sitting on gate holds, in the crew room, or flying enroute is "down time" that I probably wouldn't use at home.
I say find a place to live that you really enjoy. But make it reasonable. I'd enjoy living in some places that would just be hell to commute. So I picked the best alternative.
There was an old airline captain who told me one time, while I was complaining about the three hour ground stop during a commute: "Pick a place to live, and stay. Commute. It's hard, but it's better than trying to move every time you get a new job, a base closes, or you bid to new equipment. You'll probably end up commuting anyways. Might as well do it from somewhere you enjoy."
Also realize this is the perspective of a young single guy, not a 40-yr old married pilot with three kids. For situations like that, who knows, it might be better to take the risk of base closure to live in base. Trust me, if I had kids, I'd be flying day trips in base in a heartbeat. Maybe.
What happened to AngeloDiAmore? She aint knocked up yet?