Commuters

Wardogg

Wardogg

Meat Popsicle
If you were to mentor a young(not so young) new hire, what websites/apps would you point to as most helpful for navigating the commuting world?
 
If they're on Facebook, have them join the groups "nonrev loads" and "loadshare." They can ask for loads of specific flights ahead of time to help plan their commutes.
 
ASpilot2be said:
Unless you hate the city you're based in. I will happily commute so I can live where I want.
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To each his own. Some pilots can take commuting. I couldn’t. Short term, yes. Long term? No. Sully commuted transcon for 16 yrs from SFO to PIT/PHL/CLT when the accident happened. He was 58 but looked 78. That’s what long term commuting does to you. I can see the case if you’re single and/or no kids. That probably makes it more stress free. But with young kids, a young family in general, no thanks.

To be fair Sully went through a merger and his west coast base closed and he was forced the east coast. My case is similar, but the opposite coast. I’m not happy or say that I have to live in Cali again but sure as hell beats commuting from the east coast.


That said, there are commutes and then there are “commutes.” A same time zone multiple times/day option may work for a lot of people. I was referring to longer transcon type commutes before. Still, there’s always that added stress of making check in on time.
 
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Cherokee_Cruiser said:
To each his own. Some pilots can take commuting. I couldn’t. Short term, yes. Long term? No. Sully commuted transcon for 16 yrs from SFO to PIT/PHL/CLT when the accident happened. He was 58 but looked 78. That’s what long term commuting does to you. I can see the case if you’re single and/or no kids. That probably makes it more stress free. But with young kids, a young family in general, no thanks.

To be fair Sully went through a merger and his west coast base closed and he was forced the east coast. My case is similar, but the opposite coast. I’m not happy or say that I have to live in Cali again but sure as hell beats commuting from the east coast.


That said, there are commutes and then there are “commutes.” A same time zone multiple times/day option may work for a lot of people. I was referring to longer transcon type commutes before. Still, there’s always that added stress of making check in on time.
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Pretty sure, having done both a trans con commute and red eyes, that it's the red eyes that kill you.

He was likely doing both, probably at the same time.
 
When I lived in MSP, I was 15 minutes from the parking lot. This "good deal" was only ever exceeded when I had an IP gig, with which I only had a 10 minute drive to NATCO, and there was a Caribou with a drive-thru on the way.

Granted, had I had it to do over again, I probably would not have picked Burnsville as a single guy, but maybe one of the more hip communities Uptown or over in St. Paul, but suffice to say, the knowledge that about 30 minutes after landing, I would be chillaxing on my couch with my favorite beverage was PRICELESS. I one of those guys who said "I'll never commute!"

Well, life has a way of sneaking around your wants and desires, and I've been commuting from Florida for the past 18 years. I plan in advance to make it as stress free as possible, and multiple mainline flights a day, and lack of competition make it relatively painless.

That said, it means I have to pay attention, book my JSes on time, express some concern when it looks like I'll be getting in late, sorta pay attention for truly severe weather, pony up for a hotel, burn at least 3 days a month traveling, burn another 3 half-days getting home, forgo any reasonable opportunity to fly premium trips (that that's REAL money) and is giving up a lot of just plain "me time". I don't have kids and my SO works a similar weird schedule, so it's not like I'm burning a lot of family time, but if I did, it'd be a fairly substantial hit.

I do get some mojo back because the base I commute to is VERY junior for my AC, which means I sit snacking high on the food chain.

You pays your dollar, you takes your choice.
 
Richman said:
When I lived in MSP, I was 15 minutes from the parking lot. This "good deal" was only ever exceeded when I had an IP gig, with which I only had a 10 minute drive to NATCO, and there was a Caribou with a drive-thru on the way.

Granted, had I had it to do over again, I probably would not have picked Burnsville as a single guy, but maybe one of the more hip communities Uptown or over in St. Paul, but suffice to say, the knowledge that about 30 minutes after landing, I would be chillaxing on my couch with my favorite beverage was PRICELESS. I one of those guys who said "I'll never commute!"

Well, life has a way of sneaking around your wants and desires, and I've been commuting from Florida for the past 18 years. I plan in advance to make it as stress free as possible, and multiple mainline flights a day, and lack of competition make it relatively painless.

That said, it means I have to pay attention, book my JSes on time, express some concern when it looks like I'll be getting in late, sorta pay attention for truly severe weather, pony up for a hotel, burn at least 3 days a month traveling, burn another 3 half-days getting home, forgo any reasonable opportunity to fly premium trips (that that's REAL money) and is giving up a lot of just plain "me time". I don't have kids and my SO works a similar weird schedule, so it's not like I'm burning a lot of family time, but if I did, it'd be a fairly substantial hit.

I do get some mojo back because the base I commute to is VERY junior for my AC, which means I sit snacking high on the food chain.

You pays your dollar, you takes your choice.
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Rough math at my seniority says I'm burning around 50 nights a year in the crashpad, where if I lived in base I'd obviously be home. I told my wife this, and she told me that's fine and that I'll continue to commute.

Still trying to figure out who her boyfriend is.
 
jtrain609 said:
Rough math at my seniority says I'm burning around 50 nights a year in the crashpad, where if I lived in base I'd obviously be home. I told my wife this, and she told me that's fine and that I'll continue to commute.

Still trying to figure out who her boyfriend is.
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Pool boy, lawn boy, personal trainer, golf/tennis pro, UPS guy, pastor, or the dude that the runs the local hardware store are all popular choices.
 
I just tried out a 3.5 hour single leg, paid tickets commute for a few months to experience it since I was considering putting myself in that position long term.

Nope. Nope nope nope. I'd quit or move before I was forced to commute.
 
Commuting sucks. I do it on a city pair where 90% of the flights are offline hub to hub to a domicile in the Northeast. It allows my wife to work for just benefits and she doesn't want a boyfriend. So I waste a lot of "me time" but overall things work. YMMV.
 
I will quit flying before I ever accept a long term commute. That is how much I stressed about it, and still managed to miss a commute and eat a crap sandwich. Now with that in my head, no thanks. I’ll forever be chasing home based gigs, or try to talk my wife into moving if that time ever comes.

many out there don’t sweat the flight loads, money spent or extra time away while commuting. Wish I was wired that way, but I’m most certainly not.
 
I had a ridiculously easy commute - one leg, long enough that RJs couldn’t do it and it was full of half empty 737s. Never missed a commute and only set in the jumpseat a handful of times. Still hated all the wasted time and ended up switching my aviation field because of it.

Now years later my wife is considering a busy commute and I’m basically full Admiral Ackbar “it’s a trap!” over here.
 
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