Commuting Pilots

[Northern Lights]

Hi,
I was curious about how many pilots out there live in one city, and commute to their domicile.
Would welcome experiences from regional,cargo and major ailine pilots.

Is it a huge pain in the rear?

Have you ever been late to work because of being bumped off a flight?

Do you keep a crash pad or just pay for a hotel room once and a while?

Are you able to bid your schedule to make commuting easier?

Do you have a one leg or multi leg commute?

Do you commute on your own company, or off-line?

etc etc etc...

Just curious,
thanks
N.L.

 

[skypine69]

I work for a regional and commute. It is one leg and it is on our major partner with free passes and access to the jumpseat. Never missed a show time due to commute. Not that big a pain just have to allow extra time. I have a crash pad and a car because I have been on reserve but now I have a line so might get rid of the crash pad and just do the hotel thing.
Bottom of the list so i dont have many options for bidding but it is possible as seniority gets better.

 

[328dude]

Northern Lights:

Im based in PIT and live in Tulsa Ok. It is atleast a two legger through either STL or ORD sometimes three. I dont deal with DFW anymore. It's just to big a hassle. I've never had to use sick time cause I got bumped but it has been close a few times. I usually commute the day before my show just in case. I stay with someone in PIT and have a car so I can't help you there. I use my own carrier to PIT and others like AA or SWA back and forth from STL or ORD.
In regards to commuting and bidding for commutable lines, your senority really decides that. When I was an senior FO, I bid lines that had late shows and early finishes on the last day of a trip so that I could get home that night. Now that Im on reserve, Life is pretty $hitty when it comes to commuting. I need atleast 3 or four days off in a row to make it worth my wild to go home.

Ho hum....hope this helps.

 

[ATA73Pilot]

If you are asking these questions in an effort to decide whether or not to commute yourself....

...well...let's just say it is dependent on your personal definition of "quality of life issues".

I spent the first 10 years of my career living in base and the last 4 commuting and I hate it.

That despite a very easy commute between BWI/DCA and MDW.

So much of your life is wasted in dead time spent commuting, not to mention the stress associated with wondering if this is the trip you are going to have to call in sick for.

In our last contract we obtained a "Commuter Protection" clause that says if you give yourself at least 2 opportunities and miss those then you are not held liable.

It takes some of the stress out of the equation.

In addition - crashpad living has it's own issues. I have a nice one in MDW but am still sharing a house with 14 pilots at 4/room.

Sleeping on a bunkbed with 3 other snoring fellows has me shaking my head at times when I consider myself and my profession.

 

[J41 Pilot]

Commuting was one of the main reasons I left my job at a regional to fly corporate close to home. With only 11 days off a month, I would spend a total of 3 days getting back and forth from work. I commuted from NY to STL, which was a royal pain in the butt. If you can avoid it, don't commute.

 

[griffith30@mchs]

commuting

I'd like to hear from a commuting pilot that likes it! I commuted from the midwest to LA for 2 yrs.(2-leg commute).Now I only have a 1-leg 45 min. flight or a 3 1/2 hr. drive.It still means taking parts of some days off to be in position or to get home.I watch the WX channel and decide if I want to fly or drive and hope for the best on the return day.I bid down in equipment so that I could have a better chance at getting a line vs. reserve.I have not had and refuse to get a crashpad.The last roomie I had was in college.Right now I'm seriously looking at corporate flying if something close to home opens up.I always say that I now have two jobs;one is getting to work and the other is a pleasure.In the airline biz it's inevitable that sometime due to seat changes,equipment changes or base changes at the whim of the company that you will have to commute.I haven't had the pleasure of living in my base but I imagine that it is another world alltogether.Hey, ATA flyer,you must be sitting on reserve.

 

[bobbysamd]

Commuting

I doubt seriously that I would have commuted. I don't think that I could have stood the stress of worrying if I'd get to work on time and/or losing all the time traveling to arrive the day before work. More than likely, I would have moved to the domicile.

Maybe the exception would have been if I had flown for Mesa and depending on my shift. In those days, crew bases were at outstations; the thinking being that you could be home every night - in such places as Hobbs and Roswell (no disprespect intended to people who live there - it just wasn't my cup of tea). I recall that Mesa changed one's domicile about every couple of months or so (no exaggeration). So, I would have lived in someplace like ABQ or Denver, where I know I could have commuted easily to the outstation. And, even then, I'm not so sure I would have done even that.

 

[jetdriven]

with all of the crew bases that mesa has been closing there is no way I will ever move to the domicile! They just closed my domicile actually. I accept the fact as long as I work for MESA i am ging ot commute.

 

[PilotoHalcon]

Before I got furloughed, I worked out of ILN (Wilmington, OH) Army Guard in BVT (Burlington, VT) and lived in AUS. Then I got saved.
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