How do you survive commuting?

[rodgerdodger]

I am thinking of starting to commute to be closer to my better half- The situation I have in mind would involve riding my own airline in addition to jumpseating another line or possibly driving 5 hrs to my hub.... looking for opinions on do's/don'ts.... Also looking for hints on finding a crash pad. Has anyone used crewcommute.com or any similiar sites to find/list a place?

Seeking the experience of wiser men/women here... thanks for the help

 

[Clutch_Cargo]

Best of luck to ya... no such thing as a good commute. Everyone has their threshold... I know guys commuting from England to the West Coast and from the East Coast to Asia to go to work. I could never do it but it works for them. Mine sometimes went 12 - 14 hours and that was too much. Sorry I don't have any real advice except to say consider it very carefully.

cc

 

[rodgerdodger]

Thanks, will do...

 

[Huggyu2]

I'm not wise, but always believed that the airline pilots had it made: you could live anywhere you wanted and just commute to work, right? Well, I finally got major airline job and commuted from San Antonio to O'Hare. It wasn't fun, and it was even more stressful on my wife, who worried about me getting to work. I recommend you find a long term alternative.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
If you can arrange your living/working situation where you only have a one-leg commute that would be optimum. It also depends on your company and the agreements that you have with them regarding commuting. If you don't have a commuter clause that will make things more stressful to commute. Where I am currently employed we don't have one in place, but it's in work. This will be a very good thing considering how fluid things are with scheduling/basing. Finally, commuting to sit reserve is what I'll be doing here in a few weeks, so I'll let you know how that is...I'm thinking that it will be a drag.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Floyd R. Turbo]

Depending on how many flights you have to choose from and your tolerance for driving, the five-hour drive could be the quickest alternative. For about a year part of my commute was from GNV to ATL, not on my own company. At least half the time, I would have been home sooner if I would have driven--A couple times when the wait got unbearable I did end up renting a car and driving. All in all, it s*cked. If I had to do it again I'd drive, no question. At least then you have a good idea of how long it will take, and you're not at the mercy of the gate agent, mx, weather, etc.

 

[Tripower455]

Temporarily, it might be OK....... Long term NO!!!!!!!

I commuted for 10 years from RSW to: JFK, PHL, CVG, MDW, HOU, DAL and PHX. 8 years of it was offline, often more than 1 leg. It absolutely killed me. Many times, I'd walk in the door after 20+ hours of being awake. The absolute best time for a commute was about 6 hours, but that was just making the flight home (home is where the car is). Going to work depended on a lot of things, not the least of which was the ever changing RSW airline service. I could rarely use the same flight to commute. Airlines would change their schedules, or completely stop service for a while. It was crazy. The best commute to work was on ATA to MDW, and even that was kind of a pain, because they changed their schedule so often (great people though.......). I was leaving at 10:00 in the morning the day before I worked to catch the only nonstop up there, because the alternative was to leave my house 2 hours later, and get to MDW 6-8 hours later.

The easiest airplane commute I had was driving 100 miles to FLL to commute on my own airline, one leg to MDW. I was spending an extra 4 days/nights a month away from home, in a crash pad no less for no extra pay. It really adds up to a negative QOL.

Now I drive 3 hours, and it is by far the easiest I've ever had. I live in Naples, FL, which by most accounts, is a nice place to live. I absolutely HATE living here, due to the difficulties I've had getting to and from here/work over the years. If I could get my wife to move out of here, I'd have a 20 minute drive to work instead of 3-5 hours, depending on day/time of the week.......

If you have any reservations at all, reconsider commuting. As someone else has said, everyone has their own threshhold.

 

[Beertini]

rogerdodger-

I have a commute that (I am told) is absolutely horrible. The quickest way to work is a 2:15 drive to catch a company flight that gets me to the domicle at 12:30am. My other company options are 4-5 hours away. All of that assumes there isn't any winter weather driving issues (read blizzards).

Everyone I fly with spends a good portion of every trip telling me how my commute is awful. I happen to disagree.

Commuting is all about QOL in my opinion (and how you happen to define your personal QOL). If you are closer to work but hate where you live, is it worth spending that extra couple of days a month at home? I love my place of residence and wouldn't trade it for anything. That, to me, is the most important determination. It may be a bit harder for me to get to work but I value where I LIVE over where I WORK.

Beertini

 

[TurboS7]

During August I ususally commute between Bloomer, Wisc (north of EAU) and Miami. Usually I only have to do the commute twice as I try to put a week vacaton into the month.Last year it took me 14 hours once to go from MIA to Bloomer. I do not recommend it, it will just burn you out. I wouldn't live more than a 3 to 5 hour drive max from a base, trying to commute on an airline sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

 

[ReverseSensing]

What kind of provisions does a "commuter clause" normally contain? I've never worked 121, only small-time bottom feeder 135. Just curious.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Basically, a commuter clause if it's included in your contract allows you to miss your report time. Most places the policy is to allow yourself two back-ups to your planned commuting flights. So, if you are bumped you have a couple of back-ups that would get you there on-time. Also, you can pick-up a trip part way into the pairing by commuting to a city that the trip has overnighted. I hope that I explained that somewhat clearly. Where I am currently employed we have no commuter clause, but if mainline picks one up, we can piggyback on that portion of the contract.

Regards,

Ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[ReverseSensing]

I assume, then, that commuter clauses only apply to regular line holders, as opposed to someone on reserve or flying a composite line with a reserve component?

 

[Diesel]

My wife commutes. She's a saint for all the work she does going back and forth.

I roll out of bed. Anywhere in the U.S. and let the company worry about how to get me to work.

Pay sucks but that's a nice beny

 

[NuGuy]

Heyas,

Commuting sucks, no two ways around it. But there are different levels of suckatude, depending on the circumstances.

Some tips to make it more managable:

1. Keep to one time zone

2. Try to keep to your own airline (on-line travel)

3. Try to keep it to one leg.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother with an off-line commute, basically due to the fact that you can always get bumped, and chances are that, at least one time during the year, the flights where you live are completely full.

Having done the involuntary commute to reserve, I would accept furlough before going back to that....it was hideous, and I had a free place to stay and a car. I was home 6 nights a month...scr$w that.

Also consider the money lost...hotels or crash pad/car. Don't forget bids for higher value lines, open flying, upgrades, or bigger equipment that you gave up because the result would have been uncommutable. Over the span of career, it all adds up.

I've lived in base AND I currently commute. There is NO comparing the QoL. Going right home and ploping down on the couch rules.

Nu

 

[Tripower455]

Heyas,

Commuting sucks, no two ways around it. But there are different levels of suckatude, depending on the circumstances.

Some tips to make it more managable:

1. Keep to one time zone

2. Try to keep to your own airline (on-line travel)

3. Try to keep it to one leg.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother with an off-line commute, basically due to the fact that you can always get bumped, and chances are that, at least one time during the year, the flights where you live are completely full.

Having done the involuntary commute to reserve, I would accept furlough before going back to that....it was hideous, and I had a free place to stay and a car. I was home 6 nights a month...scr$w that.

Also consider the money lost...hotels or crash pad/car. Don't forget bids for higher value lines, open flying, upgrades, or bigger equipment that you gave up because the result would have been uncommutable. Over the span of career, it all adds up.

I've lived in base AND I currently commute. There is NO comparing the QoL. Going right home and ploping down on the couch rules.

Nu

Preach it brother! 100000% correct...... on all counts......

 

[English]

Offline commutes aren't so bad, especially if you are married to someone that works at the offline carrier. Travel benefits on two airlines are better than one!

 

[Prog 2/2]

Temporarily, it might be OK....... Long term NO!!!!!!!

I commuted for 10 years from RSW to: JFK, PHL, CVG, MDW, HOU, DAL and PHX. 8 years of it was offline, often more than 1 leg.

Looking a your ratings, I'm thinking you were a blue meatball, white hat guy. If so, you left out the best part-- the lovely train ride from PHL to PNE.

 

[Hawker rider]

I'm commuting from the midsouth over to my home base Amsterdam.

All the flying we seem to do lately is Asia, that's a lot of time difference to get used to. The commute isn't all that bad, expensive, since the one-leg option for me doesn't have that good a deal on discounted travel. I'm looking into other options, as QOL is important, and my days of standby are always a loss to me, with me not being home.

Not for the faint of heart, this commuting to and from work stuff

 

[Tripower455]

Looking a your ratings, I'm thinking you were a blue meatball, white hat guy. If so, you left out the best part-- the lovely train ride from PHL to PNE.

LOL..... actually, the train ride was cake compared to dragging the bag from the train station to the crash pad!

I am assuming that I know you!

 

[JumpJetter]

Does anybody who lives within a 3-5 hour drive have their own airplane they commute in? Obviously expensive, just wondering?

JJ

 

[91100 100 set]

Does anybody who lives within a 3-5 hour drive have their own airplane they commute in? Obviously expensive, just wondering?

JJ

I've often wondered about that as well. Obviously too rich for my regional-sized wallet, and I would imagine that it would be even more dependant on the weather than just driving in alot of places. Unless you've got yourself a decent IFR-equipped, known ice-capable airplane, you just might find yourself weathered in more often than not if you live anywhere but the desert southwest. But it is a charming idea, and I'm sure there are folks that do it.

Just don't wear your uniform while doing it, lest you find yourself the star of someone's avatar. Dipsticking the oil in a 182 in four stripes!

 

[Clutch_Cargo]

I've often wondered about that as well. Obviously too rich for my regional-sized wallet, and I would imagine that it would be even more dependant on the weather than just driving in alot of places. Unless you've got yourself a decent IFR-equipped, known ice-capable airplane, you just might find yourself weathered in more often than not if you live anywhere but the desert southwest. But it is a charming idea, and I'm sure there are folks that do it.

Just don't wear your uniform while doing it, lest you find yourself the star of someone's avatar. Dipsticking the oil in a 182 in four stripes!

I'm fuzzy on the details but remember the Captain (Eastern maybe) that commuted with his light twin? Had to go from, I think, TPA to MIA. Wx was crap but he didn't leave himself enough time to drive it. He was also already in trouble for missing a trip or two previously... so he pressed. Shot an ILS below mins and, if I recall, hit an aircraft holding short. In any case, it was his last flight.

cc

 

[hotwings402]

Its was Tampa. I know a guy in 210 that heard it happen has he was taxing around. I believe the guy was coming from Fort Myers.

http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001213X35148&key=2

 

[Tripower455]

Does anybody who lives within a 3-5 hour drive have their own airplane they commute in? Obviously expensive, just wondering?

JJ

One of our guys does PNS-MCO in a Twin Commanche. Last time I talked to him about it, he was complaining about the cost. If I had his drive (5+ hours), I would be HAPPY to pay whatever it cost to commute in my own airplane.

For me, with my 3 hour drive, it wouldn't really save me any time. By the time I drove 20 minutes to the airport, preflighted the airplane, fly it up to MCO (or Exec), and get a ride over to the airline side, I could have driven and gotten there in about the same time. Then, getting in the airplane after a PM, and flying down to APF and then NOT getting in due to the fog that rolls in 200 nights out of the year, I'd have to go up to Page and sleep in the airplane until dawn.

It's a nice dream, and some guys can pull it off, but with my commute and work schedule, it just doesn't work, even if the cost was the same......

 

[JumpJetter]

One of our guys does PNS-MCO in a Twin Commanche. Last time I talked to him about it, he was complaining about the cost. If I had his drive (5+ hours), I would be HAPPY to pay whatever it cost to commute in my own airplane.

For me, with my 3 hour drive, it wouldn't really save me any time. By the time I drove 20 minutes to the airport, preflighted the airplane, fly it up to MCO (or Exec), and get a ride over to the airline side, I could have driven and gotten there in about the same time. Then, getting in the airplane after a PM, and flying down to APF and then NOT getting in due to the fog that rolls in 200 nights out of the year, I'd have to go up to Page and sleep in the airplane until dawn.

It's a nice dream, and some guys can pull it off, but with my commute and work schedule, it just doesn't work, even if the cost was the same......

I think it might work in the southwest though??? Yeah you got the fog in SOCAL and NORCAL, but that it not year round. SOCAL fog is generally something like 10 OVC, certainly doable in a IFR aircraft equipped with GS.

Twins are too dang expensive! What about a nicely equipped experimental like a Glasair or Lancair? Fast, economical,...make sure the weather is descent, if it's not ....drive.

hmmmmmm.....dreaming is fun.....

 

[rodgerdodger]

wow....

First of all, thanks to everyone for chiming in.... I've got plenty to think about I guess... Still looking for crashpad finding hints, since that would be a big part of the quality of life decision.... has anyone used crewcommute.com or something similar? IS word of mouth the best way to find a place? Also, it seems like drving is the recommended transportation form.... That would get old I think, driving 5hrs just to take a company flight to base. I'd basically be using an off day at each end to travel... Maybe I should reconsider that bid, it sounds like no one thinks their commuting days were worth it?

 

[AA717driver]

I had the good, the bad and the ugly in 16 years of commuting. The best I had it was from IND to STL. I had 11 flights a day between TWA (on line) and SWA (off line). Only once did I have to buy a ticket--full fare for $99 bucks on SWA.

The bad was IND to EWR on CAL, hop into the Princeton Airporter and hope the Belt Parkway wasn't screwed up and I'd make check in at JFK.

The ugly was commuting on reserve on USAir from IND to LGA. I made many trips home on FEX and Ryan Int'l from JFK to IND.

Oh, yeah, from 9/11 to my furlough in March '04 I drove I-70 from IND to STL rather than get stuck in STL for one more night than I absolutely had to.

Now, I drive 15 minutes down to the hanger or the airport to airline. Much lower stress.TC

 

[TriJet]

If it makes you feel any better about commuting. I commute to Hong Kong from the west coast. Couple times a month.

 

[Pilot_Ryan]

First of all, thanks to everyone for chiming in.... I've got plenty to think about I guess... Still looking for crashpad finding hints, since that would be a big part of the quality of life decision.... has anyone used crewcommute.com or something similar? IS word of mouth the best way to find a place? Also, it seems like drving is the recommended transportation form.... That would get old I think, driving 5hrs just to take a company flight to base. I'd basically be using an off day at each end to travel... Maybe I should reconsider that bid, it sounds like no one thinks their commuting days were worth it?

I commute to work for a pt. 91 aircraft management company. I have my own airplane and use that for the commute most of the time. It's a 100nm trip that takes about 2 hours by car if the traffic's not bad (early morning) but anytime after 1:00PM in the afternoon the drive will take at least 3.5 and maybe 4.5 hours due to traffic. By comparison, in the airplane it's about 1.5 hours door to door (including travel time to/from my home airport.)

The drive through traffic is absolutely miserable and just really takes its toll on me. I arrive home exhausted and irritable. And mine is one of the easier commutes I've read about on this thread. I'd definitely give it some thought in your situation. Everyone has their own limit... you'll discover yours soon enough. The airplane commute is much easier but very expensive and hard on the wallet.

Commuting sucks. Anything that can be done to avoid it, should be done.