Offline commuting

[Phaedrus]

Can anyone shed some light on the difficulties of offline commuting? I'm new to the industry, not sure where I want to live, and need to know what I'd face if I decided to live somewhere that my employer doesn't fly.
Thanks in advance.

 

[bestpilot]

Can anyone shed some light on the difficulties of offline commuting? I'm new to the industry, not sure where I want to live, and need to know what I'd face if I decided to live somewhere that my employer doesn't fly.
Thanks in advance.

First, my brother from another mother, Im gonna be usin slang and like hope dat its not offendin you
Duuuude, naw, I like commuted off da line for my last pie-loht job and like its like a real pain cause you like be spendin too much a dat free time figurin out da backup plans and stuff.

Dude, livin in da base is where its at bro, but ifn you gots to commute, den like be doin it on your own planes. You work for da tranny, so you gots some places to be choosin from.

I aint gots da wife an da kiddies, so I dont be carin too much abouts the extra commute times, bro, but somma dem like domesticated dudes say commutin is like way bad, especially ifn you aint doin it on da Tranny.


If you be like commutin, it like means you like gots to be comin down to the A-T-L like sometimes da day before or sometimes be stuck in da A-T-L da night after your trip, so dats like extra time away from da family and stuff, and you aints gettin paid 4 it either.

 

[RichardRambone]

OK slang daddy that was tougher than it shoulda been to read. I feel the same way but from what Ive read everyone says dont commute. I say live in the town you work and commute home to the folks or whatever to see them when you're off. No crashpad just stay with them. Free jumpseat to see whomever and stay with a buddy or family.

 

[Steeler Fan]

OK slang daddy that was tougher than it shoulda been to read. I feel the same way but from what Ive read everyone says dont commute. I say live in the town you work and commute home to the folks or whatever to see them when you're off. No crashpad just stay with them. Free jumpseat to see whomever and stay with a buddy or family.

I agree that if you can live where you're based then it can save you alot of time, and allow you to take trips that most commuters would steer clear of.

I used to live where I was based and it was great (until I was furloughed). I could fly an early morning turn and be home by the time the kids were back.

Now, new job, new city. Last month, I ended up flying weekends because I wanted to be home on Wednesdays for my son's football game. If I was living in ATL, I would automatically have a lot more flexibility.

Moving the kids to a new city and away from family and friends is a tough decision. I chose not too, and fortunately I can commute online. Even with that, I've ended up missing the last commute back to Pittsburgh several times, or I catch a 6:45 AM flight for a 1:00PM check-in.

In other words, if you can avoid commuting, I strongly recommend it.

 

[SirFlyALot]

Definitely avoid commuting if you can help it.

When you're evaluating which airline you're going to or where to live, you have to attempt to put a monetary cost on commuting. To me, I'd say not commuting is worth about $50-$60K per year. It is a HUGE factor. The farther you commute, esp if it is out of a smaller airport and esp if it's off-line, the worse it gets. Commuting can be a major hassle and can sour a great job.

If you insist on commuting, figure out whether your airline belongs to CASS or not. If it belongs to CASS, this will make your commute easier by an order of magnitude. Figure out if your airline has a commuter policy. This will also take some of the stress off of the commute.

Don't commute if at all possible!

 

[SlipperyPete]

Been commuting off-line for 18 years now. The last four years have been two legs off line to the domicile. It sux. I would not do it again but home is home.

If you must commute make it as easy as possible. Don't get too comfortable in a place that's difficult to get to.

 

[Phaedrus]

SirFlyAlot: How do you come up with a monetary value of $50-60k / year? Surely that isn't actual cost. I assume you're exaggerating to make your point?
SlipperyPete: 18 years is an awful long time to offline commute and hate it. What is the worst part about it? I know the best...home is home. I'm considering moving closer to family, but the closest airport to where I'm considering (online) is about a 2.5 hour drive with about a 1.5 flight to my domicile. Is it crazy? I know this is mostly a personal question in that I have to decide if it is worth it to me, but I'd like to go in with some pretty good empirical data.
Thanks again!

 

[capt. megadeth]

I commute but it's only a 50 minute flight and I can drive it if I have to. It is a slight pain but I would rather live around friends and family then be home a little more and be bored alone. Of course, not having to commute is great if you can swing it.

 

[SirFlyALot]

Phaedrus,

I'm not exaggerating about the $50-60K. However, I didn't use any kind of formula to calculate that amount. It's just that in my mind, given all of the stress, frustration, jet lag, added time away from home, etc, that an off-line transcon commute entails, not doing the commute would be worth, to me, about $50-60K. In other words, I've decided it is probably worth it to take a job where I currently live for up to $50-60K less than I currently make if it meant I wouldn't have to commute.

Commuting sucks. There's no two ways about it. Especially off-line. And especially long-distance.

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Definitely avoid commuting if you can help it.

When you're evaluating which airline you're going to or where to live, you have to attempt to put a monetary cost on commuting. To me, I'd say not commuting is worth about $50-$60K per year. It is a HUGE factor. The farther you commute, esp if it is out of a smaller airport and esp if it's off-line, the worse it gets. Commuting can be a major hassle and can sour a great job.

If you insist on commuting, figure out whether your airline belongs to CASS or not. If it belongs to CASS, this will make your commute easier by an order of magnitude. Figure out if your airline has a commuter policy. This will also take some of the stress off of the commute.

Don't commute if at all possible!

So when you go to work for a company that has a hometown base then closes it down on you and displaces you elsewhere... then what?