Ah, decisions, decisions

FlyChicaga

FlyChicaga

Vintage Restoration
So, I'm definitely planning on bidding into another base when a new bid comes out. The commute to EWR has been pretty tough, and I'm pretty tired of being out in NYC. Lots of bad attitudes. Not crews, I should specify.

Anyways, I'm kinda torn between bidding to Houston or back to Cleveland. So far I have some big pros and cons...

CLE Pros:
Very easy commute from MDW. Two airlines with unlimited jumpseats, and a 20 minute drive to the airport. 50 minute flight.
Smaller base.
I know what I'd be getting, since I was there before.
Easy to get to/from crashpad, and cheap hotels if needed.

CLE Cons:
Not many lines compared to other bases.
Poor quality of lines.
Fairly senior base. I'd have a line though, not necessarily commutable.
Permicast in winter.
Crossing timezones for commute (lose an hour going).

IAH Pros:
Large base, plenty of varied flying.
Lots of growth in base, particuarly flying out west in LAX and in Mexico.
Warm in summer and winter.
Commutable lines go fairly junior.
No time change for the commute.
Lots of friends in base.

IAH Cons:
Most crashpads require transportation. I'd need to get a car. Not sure about hotel costs yet.
I'd have to commute from ORD. That's an hour drive, and an extra 30 minutes for the employee bus from the CAL lot.
2 1/2 - 3 hour flight to IAH.

Anyways, any thoughts? I'm racking my brain on this. Not really sure WHAT to do.
 
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Moving not really an option?

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I'd probably prefer not to. I really love Chicago, this place is my home. I'd like to eventually get an apartment or condo downtown somewhere for a couple years to have some fun. I just don't feel "home" in any other city right now. Got that Chicago in me.

Plus, I'd have to change my screenname, and that just ain't gonna fly.
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Which base would allow you to enjoy more time at home? Nevermind the quality of flying, but look at commutability and time off.

By far, LAX and SLC would be exceptionally better bases than ATL. But I've got fantastic seniority in ATL, it's actually highly commutable even though I cross two time zones (three in the summertime) and there's hardly anyone doing it.

It's actually less of a hassle than DFW was, although the flying sucks in ATL.

It's easier booking a jumpseat or a NRSA booking on my own airline to ATL rather than riding offline to LAX/SNA/BUR/ONT.

We have mainline jets without any of the fuel/reserve problems that the RJ's have between PHX and SLC.

I dunno, just some of the things that went thru my head when I decided to stay in ATL for the near term.
 
If I were you I'd just stick with what's closest to home, CLE.

I was lucky enough to be awarded IAH as my inital base - a 2:45 drive from my apartnemnt in Austin. I don't think I could tolerate a commute to EWR or CLE....deadheading EWR-IAH a few time has already taught me that. I'd just pack up and move if I'd been assigned one of those two bases, at least while I was on reserve.
 
When I was commuting to CLE I only once was bumped... going home. Managed to get to ORD instead.

The big kicker is the companies I'd be commuting on. To IAH: CAL, UAL, and AAL. All take only one or two jumpseaters. To CLE, I'd be taking XJT or SWA, both who take unlimited. Plus, SWA has plenty of flights a day... I think like 8-10. And XJT has like six I believe.

I'm just having trouble balancing better lines or better commute. Not sure which I'd be better off with. Right now, I just want more time at home, and interesting overnights. Anything else doesn't matter much.
 
Are you in CASS...I'm pretty sure you can ride on us now. We have a RFD-IAH that nobody rides on. A 757 leaves RFD at 0314 and into IAH at 0534. 4 jumpseats. Just thought I'd mention it.
 
When I was based in NY, I would often proffer for JFK trips, even though to commute I always had to go into & out of LGA (the only flights between ORD & New York were from ORD to LGA). My reason was that the JFK trips were the commutable high-time transcons & see-America trips. Trips that started & finished at LGA were often early shows or late finishes, usually up & down the east coast with maybe some DFW & ORD thrown in. So it was worth the cab fare between the airports to be able to commute easier. Just an example of how something that may not seem logical (wanting to pay cab fare to have to go to a different airport than the one my commuter flights went to) actually made more sense in the 'grand scheme'.

Personally, in your situation, I'd go to IAH. When I was working, the ORD-CLE flights were always full, and the only way we could usually accomodate jumpseaters was in the jumpseat.

Sit down and imagine life in both situations. Mentally go through a 'month-in-the-life' at each base. Think about what your life would be like, and at the end of the 'month' where you'd rather be!
 
I'm commuting ORF-IAH right now. I feel your pain on the bad commute. Yesterday I got stuck on the jumpseat. The back filled up. 3:29 in the front of an ERJ. I picked IAH because I had thought about moving to base. Now I realize that I want to move back to Florida. Either commute would be a pain, but I prefer the flying out of IAH and plus it's not cold and it's not Newark. Given the choice between the 3, I like the flying out of IAH. In you situation, though, I'd go with whatever gives you the best QOL. That's all we've got in this business.
 
My advice... Stay out of IAH... Of course your senior to me and I'll be advanced there in May... so that is most likely where my thought process is right now!
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In all seriousness... I do like the people, and the flying in Newark, and I am not looking forward to Huntsville, Beaumont, San Angelo, Laredo, Killeen, Harlingen, Victoria, Waco, etc...
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In addition to that... yes it's warmer in Texas... TOO WARM! Especially in the summer! Of course I'm a northern boy myself and do enjoy actually seeing the change of the seasons, and I do like playing in the snow from time to time... I don't like melting in the humidity in Texas and only being able to play with my daughter outside for only 15 minutes a day due to the friggin' ozone alerts down here!
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It just so happens that IAH is only a 30 min flight (about 30 direct flights between DFW/DAL and IAH/HOU, and only a 3 hour drive from my home and family in DFW. However, once I build a few years of seniority we are looking at relocating back to Maine/NE and getting advanced back to EWR.

QOL baby... QOL.

Bob
 
Oh yeah... and what happened to this : [ QUOTE ]
Right now, I'm CLE based. I'll be here until December. I bid for Newark first, then Houston, then Cleveland. Was awarded EWR, but they sent everyone to CLE for a few months. Who knows why. I really want EWR because a) faster getting a line, b) more flying, c) close to family, d) more interesting flying (NY airspace), e) more money with ground delays and departure lines.

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Also based on your statement here I would be checking out which of those places are better for commuting to CLE/EWR/IAH. Live where you want to... or at lease strive to do so.
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PS: Yeah... on reserve so I have WAY too much time on my hands to look up your old posts! DOH!
 
After spending some time in EWR, let me tell you that "perception is very different than reality" definitely applies.
 
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After spending some time in EWR, let me tell you that "perception is very different than reality" definitely applies.

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LOL! I can understand that!
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IAH Cons:
Most crashpads require transportation. I'd need to get a car.

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I was looking IAH for a while, there are some crashpads (apartments) close to the airport that have an agreement with the parking "Spot" shuttle to drop you off and pick you up, so you don't need a car. Your friends down there or company boards probably point you to the ones that I am talking about. Good luck.
 
Well, to update.

I have decided to stick it out in Newark. Jumpseating to work the other morning I was talking to one of the ORD gate agents that I see all the time going to and from, and mentioned my thoughts about changing. She had some good info about the commute to Houston. I guess come mid-March, the flights fill up fast. There are a lot of ORD-IAH commuters, and many have had trouble in the spring/summer getting to and from work because of all the traffic going to IAH to connect to Mexico and other leisure destinations. So being a junior pilot like I am, it would probably become fairly difficult to make it to work sometimes if there are other jumpseaters.

Also in consideration was the ORD parking pass that I have to get. What a pain in the butt. I don't want to go through that again.

Which comes to the second thing. Talking this over with some buddies and captains on my past couple trips, they had a good point that when it was time to upgrade I'd probably need to go back to EWR anyways (EWR is junior). CLE is a very senior captain base.

So, I figure it's best to stick with the average between the two choices. A fairly decent commute with decent lines. The commute could be better to CLE, and the lines could be better to IAH... but balancing it out between all the variables EWR seems like the best decision. Plus it's a known fact that the EWR are the most fun.
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I'd rather just "settle" myself somewhere instead of continuously jumping around between the bases. I got a nice, cheap crashpad which isn't difficult to get to, and am holding a line. Plus, I have some ideas in my head about moving somewhere for a little while that would mean I'd definitely need to stay in EWR... but that's a dream at the moment.
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If you are thinking commuting from AK to IAH, I wouldn't do it on probation!
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But yes there are SEA-IAH and SEA-EWR commuters. I have a F/A in my crashpad who commutes PDX-EWR.
 
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