Crashs pads

[Vladimir Lenin]

what's it like living in a crash pad?
how many guys per appt.?
are some co-ed?
do you have to label your carrots and beer in the fridge?

 

[jbud]

sucks
6 to 10
yes
carrots?

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

carrots?

for improved vision, or so they say

fine, make that fried chicken and beer

 

[ILLINI]

It sucks if you are there more than you are at home. Also depends on the people you are living with. Clean, organized pilots and dirty slobs don't mix well!

There are 9 in mine now, but there have been as many as 11. Not too bad since most of the guys there are fairly senior and hold lines where they don't need to be at the crash pad that often. Usually there is no more than 3 people there at one time. Many times i've been the only one there.

Yes

Yes, it helps to lable your food. And no green foods allowed in the refrigerator! Only non perishables!

 

[WrightAvia]

Yes, it helps to label your food. And no green foods allowed in the refrigerator! Only non perishables!

Just label all your food in the fridge "beef stroganoff" and then tell your friends the joke about cattle masturbating. They'll leave it alone.

 

[TR4A]

I run a Pad in Alameda CA (OAK) 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 6 pilots.

I like it better than staying in the hotels. Costs are probably a little more. Rent, parking and a car. It is 6 miles to the airport.

6. 6 beds.

Not in mine, all guys (pilots)

No.

Pad is pretty clean and everyone keeps it that way.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

9 to 11??

Not at the same time, I hope. Do you have bunk beds for those times when everyone's home? What's the monthly rent?

Anybody bring their girlfriends?

 

[spanky2]

Did the crash pad thing before being f'ed. It has its pros and cons. I preferred not having one but it may be a necessary evil if you are a commuter. My first experience started out good but quickly got out of control...too many guys. Second experience in different hub was better, had my own room, used it much more, was very convienant, good roomates, good piece of mind.
Pros - peace of mind, always have a place to go, no need to worry about getting a hotel room that may be sold out or not have a room.
Cons - little/no control over who is there...or may show up at o'dark thirty when you have to report shortly after o'dark thirty. May also need an extra car.

Somewhere in there is a break point on cost of hotel vs cost of crash.

Best choice...live where you are based.

 

[ILLINI]

VL-

Yup, 9 pilots in the pad right now and as many as 11 a few weeks ago. It's not that bad though cause like I said, there are rarely more than 3 of us there at a time. It's a three bedroom, two bath apartment. Each room has 3 bunk beds in it so we each have our own bed to sleep in. Rent is about $125/month which is a little high but we do have central air, digital cable, high speed internet, X-Box, a fully stocked kitchen, five minutes from the airport, parking, and in a nice area.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

so, let me get this straight, crashpads serve as alternates to staying in a hotel that the company is paying for? or places to live while waiting on reserve?

 

[flx757]

so, let me get this straight, crashpads serve as alternates to staying in a hotel that the company is paying for? or places to live while waiting on reserve?

They serve as an alternative to hotels that the pilots would be paying for, since they are typically commuters who need a place to stay in domicile, either while on reserve or during the nights they are in domicile between, before or after trips.

I did the crash pad thing for a while, but eventually swore it off. Never again. I'd bear the extra cost of a hotel or sharing an apt with someone where I'd have my own room. I'm just not into the communal lifestyle anymore.

 

[ILLINI]

Company won't pay for hotels in the city you are based in. If you don't live near the city you are based out of, a crash pad may be necessary if you are on reserve. For example, company X has a 90 minute call out while you are sitting reserve. That means that once you get called for a flight while on reserve, you have 90 minutes to check in. If you live more than an hour away, a crash pad would allow you to stay at the pad while you are on reserve so you can make your call out.

Sometimes you have a short period of time between flights. You may not have enough time to JS home or it's not worth jumping home b/c you would only be there for a very short period of time. You could get a hotel in this case and pay for it out of your own pocket or you could get a crash pad instead. If you only need to do this a few times a month then it might be cheaper to get the hotel instead of paying rent for the crash pad when you will only be there 3-4 times a month. Really depends on your schedule you are able to bid.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

gotcha
you answered pretty much all of the questions I wanted to ask

except

if company X has bases in just three cities, L.A., N.Y. and D.C. (for example), does the new hire have say in what city they would like to be based at? i.e. the city where they would sit on reserve an X amount of days a month?
how many days a month on reserve is average?

 

[flywithruss]

The company will put you wherever you're needed ... to use your example, if a class of fifteen pilots starts at XYZ Air, with LGA, DCA, LAX bases, the company may say "we need all fifteen of you at LAX" and that's where you go. Or they may say, "We have five openings at each domicile" ... then the class would bid in seniority order. Class seniority varies by airline ... sometimes age (oldest to youngest), sometimes by SSN, etc. But if you're the first guy to pick, you can have whichever one you want. If you're the last guy to pick, you get whatever the other 14 passed on. Make sense?

At most airlines a typical reserve line would have 10-12 days off in a 30-day bid period, meaning you'd be on reserve 18-20 days.