Commuting ?'s for a newbie

mastermags said:
Just remember, just because the flights make it possible, doesn't mean you're going to actually get on them. Especially being the bottom guy of the standby list going into a hub. Always give yourself at least two options to get to work on time (at a BARE minimum) because, 70% of the time the flight will either cancel, be late, or most likely, be full.
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There's nothing more hilarious thinking when I lived in Orlando "Oh man, look at all these MCO-ATL flights! This commute will be a piece of cake, I can almost hit the airport at will and hop on any of these flights leaving every 40 minutes!"

Worst. Commute. In. My. Career. If the security rules allowed weapons at the time, there probably would have been gun battles, knife fights and swordplay at the gate breaking out all the time. It was bad.
 
Derg said:
There's nothing more hilarious thinking when I lived in Orlando "Oh man, look at all these MCO-ATL flights! This commute will be a piece of cake, I can almost hit the airport at will and hop on any of these flights leaving every 40 minutes!"

Worst. Commute. In. My. Career. If the security rules allowed weapons at the time, there probably would have been gun battles, knife fights and swordplay at the gate breaking out all the time. It was bad.
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SeanD said:
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Pretty much!

And the bad part was that when I did have a jumpseat reserved* when I'd roll up 20 minutes prior to pushback, there were at least ten other guys, many online, many OAL with sob stories about why they need my jumpseat, when, in fact, I had the same story but just the fortune of being able to book it at 12:00:01 a few days prior.

*note: I would never ever ever eva eva eva eva EVEREVEREVER consider commuting to a city without a non-stop bookable, reservable online jumpseat. Hell, when I was NYC based and had a pairing starting out of EWR, I would still book JFK on my own metal, as a backup to USAirways or United to EWR. $19 State Shuttle!
 
Derg said:
Pretty much!

And the bad part was that when I did have a jumpseat reserved* when I'd roll up 20 minutes prior to pushback, there were at least ten other guys, many online, many OAL with sob stories about why they need my jumpseat, when, in fact, I had the same story but just the fortune of being able to book it at 12:00:01 a few days prior.

*note: I would never ever ever eva eva eva eva EVEREVEREVER consider commuting to a city without a non-stop bookable, reservable online jumpseat. Hell, when I was NYC based and had a pairing starting out of EWR, I would still book JFK on my own metal, as a backup to USAirways or United to EWR. $19 State Shuttle!
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Ugh the sob stories. I got bumped off an Envoy flight not that long ago at the last minute by an Envoy captain. I wasn't mad (ok I was mad that I had been at the gate for an hour and a half and she just strolls up before the door closes, but I digress) it WAS her jumpseat if she wanted it. She gave me this really pitiful story about how she has been at work for 5 days and just wanted to get home.

Yeah no kidding. Did she think I was just coming back from vacation or something? We ALL want to just get home. The difference is when she was kicking her shoes off in her living room I was still waiting for the next flight home to board hoping i didn't have to spend the night in the crew room. At that point I couldn't give two craps that she "just wanted to get home."
 
Derg said:
Pretty much!

And the bad part was that when I did have a jumpseat reserved* when I'd roll up 20 minutes prior to pushback, there were at least ten other guys, many online, many OAL with sob stories about why they need my jumpseat, when, in fact, I had the same story but just the fortune of being able to book it at 12:00:01 a few days prior.

*note: I would never ever ever eva eva eva eva EVEREVEREVER consider commuting to a city without a non-stop bookable, reservable online jumpseat. Hell, when I was NYC based and had a pairing starting out of EWR, I would still book JFK on my own metal, as a backup to USAirways or United to EWR. $19 State Shuttle!
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This. This. 1000 times this.

Richman
 
How easy it difficult would commuting to Oakland(OAK) be if based at LAX?

There are over 20 direct flights....majority of them being South West. However Like some of you said above, thinking this will be cake commute might be a mistake. Any thoughts???
 
Every commute is different.

DFW-ATL.

Lots of non-stops a day, right? Lots of mainline, right?

IM. POSS. I. BLE.

Try commuting between two bases, let alone a between a base and an closed base.

Any concentration of desirable to live and geographically close/junior base? Also very hard. Florida to anywhere.

"Ah" you say, "most places have a flowback to the cabin, right?". Don't forget to add in the flight attendants who are commuting as well.

You need to get the "local scene" from people who actually do the commute.

I went out to DFW to drop my Bonanza off at a Beech Specialty shop for it's first annual. "Pfffft, I'll just JS / Non-Rev home" This was before I was hip to the whole situation there.

Zero jumpseats out all day. But surely there'd be an empty seat in back, right? Made it out to DFW for the first flight out....hah. By about noon, and several flights later, I grooved into the fact that this was a waste of time and I wasn't going anywhere on Company metal.

Called my bro up at da' Tranny, and asked for a Buddy Pass to get home. Buddy passes had a tiny, skosh bit of priority over everyone trying to commute (other than Tranny folks), so I was able to get on. Much to the anger of a FA who was trying to get to ATL as well, and had been bumped off the same multiple flights I had on company metal, and decided to try Tranny as well. She let me know, in no uncertain terms that what I had done, in her eyes, was completely wrong.

?????

Guess I fouled up some unwritten, local, DFW commuter's pact or something. Oh well....live and learn.

Richman
 
You know a commute is really bad when you consider running through an airport yelling that the flight has been moved from a4 to e20.
 
Richman said:
Every commute is different.

DFW-ATL.

Lots of non-stops a day, right? Lots of mainline, right?

IM. POSS. I. BLE.

Try commuting between two bases, let alone a between a base and an closed base.

Any concentration of desirable to live and geographically close/junior base? Also very hard. Florida to anywhere.

"Ah" you say, "most places have a flowback to the cabin, right?". Don't forget to add in the flight attendants who are commuting as well.

You need to get the "local scene" from people who actually do the commute.

I went out to DFW to drop my Bonanza off at a Beech Specialty shop for it's first annual. "Pfffft, I'll just JS / Non-Rev home" This was before I was hip to the whole situation there.

Zero jumpseats out all day. But surely there'd be an empty seat in back, right? Made it out to DFW for the first flight out....hah. By about noon, and several flights later, I grooved into the fact that this was a waste of time and I wasn't going anywhere on Company metal.

Called my bro up at da' Tranny, and asked for a Buddy Pass to get home. Buddy passes had a tiny, skosh bit of priority over everyone trying to commute (other than Tranny folks), so I was able to get on. Much to the anger of a FA who was trying to get to ATL as well, and had been bumped off the same multiple flights I had on company metal, and decided to try Tranny as well. She let me know, in no uncertain terms that what I had done, in her eyes, was completely wrong.

?????

Guess I fouled up some unwritten, local, DFW commuter's pact or something. Oh well....live and learn.

Richman
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That day during the ice storm when I was barking at the dispatcher on the telephone that "light snow and ice are two mutually exclusive terms", I had more problems dealing with non-revs and commuters that would bombard me whenever I went up into the terminal.

It's like if I do a DFW-ATL flight, people lose their collective minds and it's like a weekday at a Long Island Costco where it's murderball.

I wouldn't wish DFW/ATL on my worst enemies.

Hey, when does class start, Skipper? We don't have many FO's left around the forums, do we? :)
 
Derg said:
MEM has heavy competition, especially since Delta cut more flights.

I've commuted most of my career. I would say that there are no "tips and tricks" to commuting, only "coping techniques".

It can be a knife fight at times.
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I agree 100 percent. Coping is the key. You can drive yourself insane or you can slightly accept fate and commuting karma sometimes and be much happier.

I will tell you this, I have been commuting for about 8 months and I can spot a white shirt or a PNT rollerboard from a mile away when I am sitting in the airport waiting for my commute flight. You start doing the math in your head and searching your phone for options. Sometimes fate smiles on you and sometimes it just isn't your day.
 
e6bflyer said:
I agree 100 percent. Coping is the key. You can drive yourself insane or you can slightly accept fate and commuting karma sometimes and be much happier.

I will tell you this, I have been commuting for about 8 months and I can spot a white shirt or a PNT rollerboard from a mile away when I am sitting in the airport waiting for my commute flight. You start doing the math in your head and searching your phone for options. Sometimes fate smiles on you and sometimes it just isn't your day.
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I know what you mean. When I roll up to a gate my head is on a pivot looking for luggage works.
 
badtransam97 said:
How many guys commute out of BNA headed to CLT? If MEM is slammed, that's the next option.
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There is always LIT and JAN. Most commuters o have met down here, say that the fedex schedule works....I mean who doesn't want to drive around memphis at 130/2am in the morning? It's not like there is a crime problem here.
 
Richman said:
Having had to take care of an ailing parent, here is the hard truth:

Taking care of a loved one that needs daily care WILL kill you if you let it, and It's not going to get any better.

IMHO, a 2 leg commute to sit reserve for a regional job is a non-starter. Commuting off line is 10x worse. Commuting with more than one leg also has it's own improbability multiplier. You will NEVER be home, and if you are, you will be so dog tired and stressed out you won't be able to think straight.

Something bad will always happen when you are away from home. Always.

I've seen a lot of these situations. Guys and gals conjure up improbable Rube Goldberg solutions where A-B-C-D-E-F have to occur in order for everything to work, and when one part of the plan falls apart (which when you look at the individual steps, is very probable), the whole world falls apart, and now it's crisis mode for you and everyone around you. It's unfair to your significant other, and it's unfair to your co-workers and unfair to everyone that has to deal with your situation.

My 0.02. Get your family situation in order. Hire someone to come in and help your folks. If that's not doable, stick with your current flying job, or if you don't have a flying job, look for one that is closer until your situation resolves itself.

This job IS NOT WORTH what you will put yourself through.

I took couple years off of work to help my parent out, and my work situation wasn't anywhere near as complex as the one you're thinking about doing. Best thing I ever did.

Richman
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Best post I've read in awhile.
 
PlaneFan82 said:
There is always LIT and JAN. Most commuters o have met down here, say that the fedex schedule works....I mean who doesn't want to drive around memphis at 130/2am in the morning? It's not like there is a crime problem here.
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You just need to learn what exact parts to avoid during the drive into the FedEx parking lot :)
 
e6bflyer said:
Sometimes fate smiles on you and sometimes it just isn't your day.
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Fate was smiling on me tonight.

One of those nights where everything had to line up just right for the plan to work.

I normally don't plan on things like tonight for my commute, but this fell into my lap and was an opportunity to get home 36 hours sooner than I originally was going to get home.
 
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