Questions about commuting to OAK

[JPB]

What kind of schedule/travel sould i expect if i commute from MHT to OAK?
What is the situation in regard of crash pads?
Do you need to have a car in OAK?
That's it, thanks for the info.

 

[dhampton]

You are going to spend a lot of time commuting, good luck with that.

You don't need a car.

Most people share hotel rooms with classmates. There are apartments on Alameda, but you'd need to take a taxi or have a car.

 

[RightBettor]

Apartments?

What apartments do people usually stay in? I did a search online and found the prices to be... shall we say ludicrous!!! If you got a 3 bedroom place with 6 people, then you could pay around $300 - $400/mo. I know this is an issue for OAK based crews. The idea of sharing a hotel room seems okay, but what about sitting reserve for multiple days? I live near ONT (So. Cal.) so OAK or PHX would be my choices (easy commutes). Although I am leaning towards PHX because of the crashpad situation in OAK. Is it any better in PHX? I understand it is and hotels are cheaper if you have to go that route.

One more question for OAK pilots: If one were to stay in OAK, would it be reasonable to expect to move up to lineholder quicker? Or is it one of those situations where the base is very senior AND very junior, meaning the junior guys are all leaving for other bases ASAP and there is no movement upward because the senior people aren't really going anywhere? (Does any of this make any sense? ) Thanks.

RightBettor

 

[T1bubba]

OAK info

A good friend of mine was in the April class, he's been sitting in OAK for a while now. He said there are 2 hotels that everyone stays at, they run about $45-$55 a night. There are crashpads around, but as dhampton mentioned you need a car to get to them. With one class behind him he's on the verge of getting a blank line at OAK, and when the next class shows up he should be able to get a line or more likely switch to PHX.

Hopefully the classes will keep coming and none of us will have to stay there too long...

T1bubba

 

[UGApilotDAWG]

Guess that's why Oakland is the most junior base - good news for those living on the west coast that can commute - they should go senior there very fast. I'll be on the bus with everyone else moving east ASAP!
I've got a few buddies in that last april class and my guess is they've been commuting to Chicago or Oakland and sitting resever for a while now... but I'd gladly trade places with them!

Not too long now for all of us I hope!

Les

 

[jointops]

JPB,

We live on an island in the Bay and I commute out of OAK. When pulling into the crew parking lot, the number of trailers is overwhelming. It's kind of funny actually. For those early departures, you see the SWA guys coming out of the trailers and RVs just stretching and greeting each other good morning.

It's an alternative to sucking up the cost of hotels and rent.

I think there might be an additional parking fee associated with the trailer/RV option. Ask your folks out here what the norm is. I think my annual parking was around $500, but it was immediately billed to my company.

Happy landings

 

[dhampton]

RV Parking is $110 a month for those of you considering it. The RV situation has been rumored to end soon because the parking lot is near it's capacity.

Rightbettor,

Yes Apartments are expensive. Expect to pay $1000 a month for something you'd feel safe in. You are correct to assume you will be a lineholder quickly if you stay in Oakland. I was a lineholder in my third month. Also consider that Oakland is a commuter base, if you want to pick up extra trips, Oakland tends to have a little less competition for them. You could pay for your apartment by flying two and a half extra days a month (extra flying pays at second year pay rate, a little better than time-and-a-half). Yes PHX is cheaper, but good luck flying extra there. PHX is Junior and Senior as you described.

To answer the second part of your question. I expect to move up about three to four seats a month once the new hires start showing up. That puts me at the top of the seniority list in 5 years.