Commuting-or not?

[88_MALIBU]

Guys

I am looking to get some opinions on where the heck I should try and live when I get done with training. Right now, I live in the Dakota's which is served by the airline I will be working for after training. Although I hate to move, thats what I signed up for and am willing to do. My question is, would you guys make the two leg commute your first year while on reserve? I am guessing the majority will say no.. I am not married, no kids, no attachments, etc. I can move to DTW or MEM if I have too, and would gladly love to, but I am just trying to get the ball rolling here on my decision. I can rent a crashpad and what not, but ultimately love the outdoors hence ND. I hear eastern AR and NW Ohio have some good hunting so I am not worried, just looking for some stories about guys who have been there. Thanks

 

[DC8 Flyer]

I would say since you have no real attachments move to where you want to live and make the commute. Try to move somewhere that has multiple flights/airlines to your base and only one leg. That seems strict but some of these smaller towns have multiple service.

I have always said this job is perfect for someone who isn't married and has no kids!

 

[FlyChicaga]

I heard this before somewhere, and it keeps me going when I'm having a bad day commuting:

"Life where you want. Where you'll be happy. Because with the way this industry works, if you keep moving into base you'll never really settle down."

Sound advice if you ask me.

 

[sgwabd]

LIve where you work. It makes the job a billion times better.

 

[Dutch]

Depends on your situation. My advice would be to live in domicle if on reserve. I spent a month on airport reserve (0530 sign in) and was at the crash pad 20 nights that month. Found a place to live in base within a week. Nothing motivates like 8 guys on reserve in a 2 bedroom apartment.

 

[DoinTime]

Guys

I am looking to get some opinions on where the heck I should try and live when I get done with training. Right now, I live in the Dakota's which is served by the airline I will be working for after training. Although I hate to move, thats what I signed up for and am willing to do. My question is, would you guys make the two leg commute your first year while on reserve? I am guessing the majority will say no.. I am not married, no kids, no attachments, etc. I can move to DTW or MEM if I have too, and would gladly love to, but I am just trying to get the ball rolling here on my decision. I can rent a crashpad and what not, but ultimately love the outdoors hence ND. I hear eastern AR and NW Ohio have some good hunting so I am not worried, just looking for some stories about guys who have been there. Thanks

Sounds like you are entering the NW system. I'm guessing Mesaba if MSP is not an immediate option out of training. If you are from the dakota's you will probably not mind the outskirts of the DTW area but the MEM area will probably be sever culture shock to you.

If you stay in the ND area and commute to MEM or DTW you are also looking at a two-leg commute with one leg being hub-to-hub. This will reduce your approximate life expectancy by about 10 years. I wouldn't recommend it.

btw: Hunting around the MEM area is pretty lame. Very small game. You can usually carry your biggest kill out of the woods on your back. While its good target practice its hardly worth the effort.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

Or if you feel like being the target in target practice, you can be like me and move to base in Detroit.

 

[Northern Lights]

If one had the choice of commuting MSP-DTW or MSP-MEM, which would you pick? I can imagine that going hub to hub is a challenge.

One consideration that comes to mind is the time zone. You'd lose an hour on the way to DTW.

Also, what about local transportation. Would you be able to get by on public transportation in DTW or MEM, or is a commuter car necessary?

Looks like I'm in the same situation as 88.

 

[Enterprise]

Having done the MSP-MEM shuttle for a little while I can tell you it is challenging. Because of the opposite growth trends of XJ and 9E you have a number of pilots commuting to junior base. All of the XJers are working in MEM who can not hold MSP and it just the opposite for 9E. The flight schedule is not very good either. The last flight out of MEM is 5:25 p.m. The last flight out of MSP is around 6:30 p.m. A crash pad is a must if you do MEM. On top of that the flights are pretty full and there are a number of time I would not have made the flight if I were not positive spaced or riding in the jumpseat. There is almost always a few other pilots on the flight and currently NWA only takes 2 offline jumpseats.

DTW on the other hand has a better flight schedule plus I think they have better trips. I know there is a real late (10:30 I think) DTW-MSP flight. Maybe someone else can shed some more light on the DTW commute.

 

[acaTerry]

Here's about the best advice I can give:
Make sure your airline and the domicile are relatively stable, and still be prepared to have to move again. Take it from someone who moved once for an airline and will never do it again.

 

[CubanSmoker]

A good friend of mine flies for XJ, and lives in Fargo. He does the commute to DTW and it works just fine for him. PM me if you want and I can give you his email.

As an XJ commuter myself, my experience is that commuting in the NWA system is not THAT bad. We have a great commuting policy that you need to lean on once in a while.

IMHO, moving for an aviation job is not worth it. If you're happy where you live, have family near, etc. Stay there. In fact, I think it will help you not get too wound up when you can't make the last jumpseat home for the night... You don't HAVE to get home to a family of your own.

Just my $0.02