Questions about commuting, domiciles, reserve.

[Talian]

I live in the west and have been considering Skywest. I want to keep the commute to a minimum. I would like to remain out west , such as SAN, TUS, SLC. I have no idea what the whole commuting thing is all about. For instance, if I received SAN as a domicile as a new hire would I have to basically have a rental there and would I have to stay there the whole time while on reserve,not being able to go home weekly to see my family.
Any advice on what to expect would be appreciated. I am having a hard time deciding if I want to go for this. I just want to have an idea what to expect. To see if I could even be able to afford keeping two places to live on those wages is my most important concern. Thanks.

 

[SpyFlysDOTs]

I live in the west and have been considering Skywest. I want to keep the commute to a minimum. I would like to remain out west , such as SAN, TUS, SLC. I have no idea what the whole commuting thing is all about. For instance, if I received SAN as a domicile as a new hire would I have to basically have a rental there and would I have to stay there the whole time while on reserve,not being able to go home weekly to see my family.
Any advice on what to expect would be appreciated. I am having a hard time deciding if I want to go for this. I just want to have an idea what to expect. To see if I could even be able to afford keeping two places to live on those wages is my most important concern. Thanks.

If you have to ask..you probably can NOT afford it.

Where do you Live live?
When I started, I was awarded PSP after 2 months and my drive went from 4 hrs, to 81 miles, doable.

 

[Talian]

If you have to ask..you probably can NOT afford it.

Where do you Live live?
When I started, I was awarded PSP after 2 months and my drive went from 4 hrs, to 81 miles, doable.

I live in Phoenix.

I own a business in which I will continue to keep. So I can afford it, the question is whether I want to do this based on how often I will be able to see my family and what domicle I would get.

 

[SkyNation]

commuting sucks, no matter how you slice it. if you live in PHX, then for the time being you will ALWAYS commute, as we don't have a base there. YES, you will be on reserve for a time as a newhire, and YES you'll have to be available within a minimum of 2 hours of when they call you to give you an assignment.

most new guys get a crashpad while new and/or on reserve. not a fun way to spend your time, but for commuters often the only way to minimize costs.

good news is you could become a lineholder in very short order, so that way you'll only be commuting to do your scheduled trips. a crashpad may still be necessary for early reports and late release times, but I'd recommend a hotel instead if it works for you.

PM me with questions, good luck to you

 

[35off]

phx

your profile says 3200 and jet time.

put your stuff in at USAir. they are hiring into PHL and PHX.

 

[SpyFlysDOTs]

your profile says 3200 and jet time.

put your stuff in at USAir. they are hiring into PHL and PHX.

Why is it that every time I fill in one of those online apps, at the end it comes up Error? Are they trying to tell me something? LOL

 

[Guitar Guy]

Depending on how lines are built (report times and end of duty times) and for how long you end up on reserve, you could find that you lose a lot of extra time in addition to money as you commute. You could see that 12 days off dwindles down to 7 or 8 days off, for instance, due to having to commute in the night before for duty or not being able to get home until your first day off.

Commuting can be doable but it's usually not fun even if you have cockpit jumpseat access. If you are commuting between popular city pairs, you could find yourself competing with a lot of other pilots especially during peak travel times.

Bottom line: commuting will cost you in terms of time with your family and your business. Try to avoid it if at all possible.

 

[ratherbeflyen]

Mesa has a base in phx, but they might put you on a type that doesn't have phx as a domicile and with the "fence" you might not be able to ever switch to phx. Commuting does suck, especially on reserve, but lots of people do it. Its kinda like trying to decide if you want to be shot or stabbed. If it were me I wouldn't work for mesa if it was the last airline in this country. Go to skyw or xjt and commute to California.

 

[Vegaspilot99]

Commuting does suck...I'm leaving SKW for a local flying job where I can be home every night. I might consider commuting again for the right job (ie major), but for right now it's not for me. Good luck

 

[Goose Egg]

Avoid commuting if you can. Just like everyone says, it sucks. I'm glad I won't have to do it any more starting March.

As far as SkyWest goes, you probably wouldn't get SLC as a new hire, and definitely not SAN--very senior. You could possibly hold a line in FAT as a new hire on the Brasilia--I think I sat a total of three hours of reserve there. If you were hired into the jet you'd probably be assigned MKE or ORD, which might actually be a doable commute from PHX. I'm not sure how long it takes to bid out of MKE or ORD though. COS is fairly junior from what I hear. SLC is juniorish--I just looked and the most junior jet FO in SLC is very close to my seniority number, and I've been with the company for about 6 months.

Hope this helps. For what it's worth, after February I hope to never have to commute again, and I will go to great lengths to avoid it in the future. Some guys do it and are fine with it. I'm not one of those guys.

-Goose

 

[Talian]

Thanks for all the advice. Looks like commuting is going to suck either way.

 

[FlyingToIST]

talian,
one thing to consider is also the commuting policy. skywest doesn't have it. they just want you to show up. take this one into consideration as well .

 

[kj6991]

I commute and it doesn't bother me one bit. But I do hold a pretty senior line with weekends off. Never had to commute to reserve, which I can see being pretty brutal.

 

[viper548]

PHX is a good place to commute from FAT is junior in both the EMB and the CRJ although you may not get it right out of training in the CRJ. COS is very junior and is an easy commute from PHX. I'm not sure how long it will take to get TUS, but that's a drivable commute for you

 

[viper548]

I've commuted for about 1 year at SKYW with a 2 leg commute. Never been a problem.

 

[DrewBlows]

Plan on half a day every time you commute, sometimes it will be less time, sometimes it will be more. Over the course of a month this adds up to two to five days you will waste just getting to and from work. At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

My suggestion is to position yourself so you don't have to commute while at a regional airline. This may mean commuting for a while until your seniority can hold a base you are willing to live in. If you provided more information about where you want to live, Skywest, Eagle, Mesa, and ExpressJet guys could give you more insight about the seniority of each base and commuting information from other places. Good luck.

 

[Vegaspilot99]

At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

BINGO! Hence the reason I left the regionals (again) to pursue flying locally until that type of job can be had.

 

[Talian]

Plan on half a day every time you commute, sometimes it will be less time, sometimes it will be more. Over the course of a month this adds up to two to five days you will waste just getting to and from work. At regional wages and schedules this isn't worth it to me (I've learned this the hard way). For a long haul pilot who has more days off and more days on, in a row, commuting isn't a big deal since you only have to do it a few times a month. Plus, one's tolerance for commuting goes up with direct proportion to one's wages.

My suggestion is to position yourself so you don't have to commute while at a regional airline. This may mean commuting for a while until your seniority can hold a base you are willing to live in. If you provided more information about where you want to live, Skywest, Eagle, Mesa, and ExpressJet guys could give you more insight about the seniority of each base and commuting information from other places. Good luck.

The places that I would consider living are the southwest, AZ or CA and the northeast, PHL area. I have already researched the domiciles for the airlines that I would be interested in, but I would like advice from you guys that work for Eagle, Skywest, Mesa, Express Jet and Air Wisconsin as to what the most junior FO bases are and any estimate of reserve times. Thanks for any advice...