BWI commute

[luvfan]

Thinking about relocating to Southeastern PA. Any comments on pros/cons or how easy/tough the commute is from counties in PA
(Deleware, Chester, Lancaster, Adams, York)?

Hope to be flying out of BWI next year...thanks!

 

[Tripower455]

A good friend of mine lives in King of Prussia, and used to fly out of BWI (ATA). He said that he leaves 2 hours for the drive, but usually makes it 1:50 or so. Since we are usually not driving in the normal traffic times, he said he rarely sat in traffic. The only time it would be an issue is if you are on reserve with a 2 hour call out. It would be pushing it if you sat at home.

HTH!

 

[T1bubba]

I live in downtown Baltimore, but I fly with lots of folks who live in PA. The vast majority live in New Freedom and the other small towns just across the PA border off I-83. You can easily make your reserve callout time (2 hours) from there.

If you move much farther away you start to roll the dice for being at home on reserve. You need to allow about 30 minutes from the employee parking lot at BWI to check in because it's a long bus ride to the terminal followed by a long walk to the lounge. If you don't have a SIDA badge you may want to add a few minutes to that.

I only had one month where I had to fly reserve at BWI, so if they're hiring classes behind you the reserve callout may not be that much of a factor (until you make captain). In that case it's just a question of how far you're willing to drive to work. I'd recommend living somewhere you can easily make the reserve callout time though. I got Thanksgiving off despite being 20 from the bottom in BWI by taking a reserve line this month.

Good luck.

T1