Commuting from Hawaii...ludicrous or feasible?

RamRise

RamRise

Well-Known Member
Hey guys looking to get some advice here. Currently 121 FO for a big regional you've heard of. Looking at options for moving to Hawaii but keeping my current job (till HAL decides to take a chance on me) and commuting to the west coast (LA/SF domicile). Does anybody know someone who does this or the best way to approach this? I'd have some schedule flexibility to be able to work in large blocks then go home to hawaii for a week or so at a time. Just missin that warm ocean and those palm trees....
 
I flew for Island Air and had a condo in Waikiki but my main home was in Washington. I would usually commute back and forth a few times a month. Worked out well except for one time I forgot about the school's winter break and I couldn't find a way to get back to the island.
 
One legging to sfo/lax from Honolulu wouldn't be impossible, especially if you include 2 hop possibilities through the out islands. Also FedEx, UPS, PAC and Atlas all make regularly scheduled trips.

Issues:

We have a ton of West coast commuters so your jumped at access would be somewhat limited. Similar story over at United. Additionally more widebodies are being swapped to NB aircraft and weight restricting jumpseats, even if they are open.

More importantly, are you familiar with what living in Hawaii can actually be like?
 
I've commuted from Hawaii for the last 5 years. To LAX and to MEM. It's possible, you just have to be flexible and leave early.
 
Cessnaflyer said:
I flew for Island Air and had a condo in Waikiki but my main home was in Washington. I would usually commute back and forth a few times a month. Worked out well except for one time I forgot about the school's winter break and I couldn't find a way to get back to the island.
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I think the key would be not to live on Oahu - it's way too expensive even though there are more flights. If you lived on Big Island or Kauai, worst case scenario you could buy a ticket to work if you don't work for a company that is cool with missing the occasional commute (even if you had to jumpseat on NAC or whoever to HNL then buy a ticket) - if you lived on Big Island the prices are substantially cheaper and there are a ton of flights that go straight to the mainland. Kauai would require you live in Kekaha or at least way out of town for it to be affordable, but there are still a ton of flights to the mainland from LIH.
 
BobDDuck said:
One legging to sfo/lax from Honolulu wouldn't be impossible, especially if you include 2 hop possibilities through the out islands. Also FedEx, UPS, PAC and Atlas all make regularly scheduled trips.

Issues:

We have a ton of West coast commuters so your jumped at access would be somewhat limited. Similar story over at United. Additionally more widebodies are being swapped to NB aircraft and weight restricting jumpseats, even if they are open.

More importantly, are you familiar with what living in Hawaii can actually be like?
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Living on Kauai was the best place I ever lived. We left and came back to Alaska for a few reasons (for one we had another kid and no support network on the island) - but I'll go back as soon as I can figure out how. It's insanely expensive to live there, which was a bummer, and it's got it's quirks - it took a long time for me to get used to the culture of the island. But I love it and I miss it.

For those thinking of going, do it. Learn to surf, buy some slippers, and enjoy a laid back culture.
 
BobDDuck said:
One legging to sfo/lax from Honolulu wouldn't be impossible, especially if you include 2 hop possibilities through the out islands. Also FedEx, UPS, PAC and Atlas all make regularly scheduled trips.

Issues:

We have a ton of West coast commuters so your jumped at access would be somewhat limited. Similar story over at United. Additionally more widebodies are being swapped to NB aircraft and weight restricting jumpseats, even if they are open.

More importantly, are you familiar with what living in Hawaii can actually be like?
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I'm from Hawaii originally so I'm intimately familiar with life on Oahu. Despite all the issues I have with oahu it is the place my family, friends and favorite activities are.

I just want to avoid getting caught in a UAL 737 jump on a redeye to have to work the next day. Good to hear it's being done though and my idea isn't pie in the sky.

Honestly I'm only on the mainland to become a better candidate for HAL. They want you to get that real experience and I've been here since 250 hrs building 135 and now 121 time. At some point though I miss home and don't wanna keep sacrificing my personal life for career. I would just switch to Ohana now but I'm not sure that's the best move as I only have 300 mainland jet 121 and I should get probably 800-1000. Good news is sounds like HAL Is hiring primary OO and CPZ fo's.
 
I have a place on the big island for the winters. Mon-Fri there is an MD11 from HKO to ONT at 530am. It starts out of HNL at 0245. I've only done it a couple times but my commute from here is easier than my home commute out of rural central Washington. HAL is supposed to be starting up a direct flight to LAX soon from Kona.
 
Cptnchia said:
What happens if HAL never calls, or worse, you get the TBNT? Commute the rest of your career to the big regional or a a legacy east coast base?
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Lotta what if's in this career. I suppose I'll have to cross that bridge when it comes. I'm not opposed to flying for an outfit in hawaii other than HAL for a period of time, just want to make sure I have that mainland 121 jet time box checked before I move on cause I know Hawaiian needs to see that. If I got on with another legacy then I could afford to live by the water in the states. As it stands now that is out of the question basically.
 
RamRise said:
Good news is sounds like HAL Is hiring primary OO and CPZ fo's.
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Decent number of CPZ junior Captains are going to HAL.
civilian CPZ FOs going to HAL are still relatively rare. The one I know had like 4000-5000 jet time (and was also from HI).
 
Definitely look at Atlas. I don't think it's every day, but we often have a plane flying between LAX and HNL. Unfortunately it doesn't come back the same direction as it continues down to Sydney and circles around Asia.
 
DE727UPS said:
I have a place on the big island for the winters. Mon-Fri there is an MD11 from HKO to ONT at 530am. It starts out of HNL at 0245. I've only done it a couple times but my commute from here is easier than my home commute out of rural central Washington. HAL is supposed to be starting up a direct flight to LAX soon from Kona.
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Yeah, my commute was EAT-SEA-OGG or direct to HNL depending on loads.
 
ppragman said:
I think the key would be not to live on Oahu - it's way too expensive even though there are more flights. If you lived on Big Island or Kauai, worst case scenario you could buy a ticket to work if you don't work for a company that is cool with missing the occasional commute (even if you had to jumpseat on NAC or whoever to HNL then buy a ticket) - if you lived on Big Island the prices are substantially cheaper and there are a ton of flights that go straight to the mainland. Kauai would require you live in Kekaha or at least way out of town for it to be affordable, but there are still a ton of flights to the mainland from LIH.
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Eh, it can be done. For $28,000 that first year I made it work in Waikiki. It took some side hustle and some extra trips (not a big deal it was home every night)
 
Cessnaflyer said:
Eh, it can be done. For $28,000 that first year I made it work in Waikiki. It took some side hustle and some extra trips (not a big deal it was home every night)
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I could do it without kids or a family for sure. I already had 2 kids when we got to the islands, so that colors my perception a bit about the finances of the island - I should have mentioned that.
 
We have a few pilots that commute from Hawaii to NY. They make it work. They’ll usually load up the front or back end of their schedule so they only have to commute in once or twice a month.
 
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