Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

How do you survive commuting?

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

rodgerdodger

Active member
Joined
Apr 8, 2005
Posts
32
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
 
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
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
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
 
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.
 
What kind of provisions does a "commuter clause" normally contain? I've never worked 121, only small-time bottom feeder 135. Just curious.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top