Commuters

Commuted for nearly 7 years. The first two years was 2 legs and 3 time zones west to east and it damn near killed me. Outstation basing with early reports and late releases meant a 4 day trip was 6 days away from the house. The next 4 1/2 was much easier, just an hour mostly on my own metal but stressful nonetheless. More than once I would be pulling into the alley only to see the beacon on and the jetway pulled away from my last commute option for the night. At the new gig I drive 90 miles from my place to the lot. No more am I going to make it to check in? Am I going to make it home? No more hotels and lost days at home and now when on the last leg of a 4 day when the plane is broken or we have some stupid long EDCT I'm like "wake me when it's time to go". The commute is waiting for me in the lot. In the end my QOL is much, much better.
 
bike21 said:
Commuting a few times a month still beats the daily grind of 9-5 and slowly dying in your car. Still no other job out there that allows a bunch of blue collar hacks this much time off and compensation. Worth it.
Click to expand...

Thats not the same thing. Not everyone has a 2+ hr daily commute driving to work.
 
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.
Click to expand...
I just was nabbed via the X-list (that's a "green slip" to you, or something) for a Jacksonville turn tomorrow morning.

When I was commuting I was on the Y-list for LAX (I dunno what you guys would call that) but the only stuff they called me for was uninteresting garbage. This trip, I drive to the airport, fly down, grab some food, fly back, drive home and it's a stupid easy way to make 10 hours.

So, yes, choices. But having tried each I'd rather drive to work. Since there is no Mrs. Blue, it doesn't terribly matter much either.
 
Commuting sucks, but I've made my peace with it. My wife has a good salary, excellent benefits and a pension and has been at it for 20 years. My family and her family are nearby, having them around has been helpful with the kids (my twin boys just turned 9). We aren't moving for any airline.

My commute itself is 99% regional aircraft (there was a glorious time over the summer where it was a 737 or A320 on occasion) and gets weird some times, but I've made the 4 hour drive to my base so often it doesn't matter anymore. I'm a car guy, I like to drive and I drove semi-professionally for 3 years, so driving 4 hours isn't ideal after 12 hours on duty and 6 hours of flying, but it beats being in a hotel again.

I've done two video interviews with Allegiant and have gotten TBNT both times. Living in base sounds great, but I'm also 30 minutes minimum from the airport, an hour in heavy traffic and I hate traffic, so I wonder if day trips in base are really what I want?

I don't want to be at my regional forever, but right now, after 6 years, I bid what I want and get it. Thanks to creative bidding, I'm in a 9 day off stretch right now, but the end of February will be a struggle. But that's regional's for you, especially ones that have never had proper staffing. I'm hoping my next job is one where a 4 hour drive twice a week is still an option, but not my only one. I think commuting solely by air would have made me hate it much more over the past six years.

FWIW...
 
Richman said:
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.
Click to expand...
One time I walked up to a table of women in a Coronado Island bar and asked "Are you ladies single or are your husbands out to sea?" One said "Does it matter?"
 
Related question to the thread...

It seems like specific cities are more popular for bases than others, or that if you map out all the bases at all the different airlines, there are certain cities more common as a base than others.

Are DCA / IAD like that? Are there a lot of airlines that maintain crew bases in DCA/IAD vs, CAK or JAX or OKC or whatever?
 
4CCB9F5F-7437-46A3-AA43-5846C461DD91.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top