Commuting MHT/BOS-NYC and a crash pad question

Jimmy_Norton

Well-Known Member
I am incredibly lucky to have gotten a CJO from the legacy of my dreams. Still awaiting a class date, but unless something really odd happens, I'll be commuting to the NYC area. I live in Southern NH. MHT is about 20 min away, and they have three flights a day to EWR, all on regional airliners. BOS is about 1:15 away, and they have a multitude of flights between there and NYC.

I'm coming from a strictly 91/135 background, so I know zero about the intricacies of commuting. How hard would it be to get on one of those regionals? They are express carriers for the legacy I will be working for. Or are there too many variables to answer this question? How hard is the commute between BOS and NYC? I am sure there are lots of people that do that, but there are also a lot of seats between those two cities. It is a 4.5 hour drive to EWR from home, but I really would rather not do that.

What is the advantage/disadvantage to having a crash pad vs getting a hotel when needed? There are a plethora of hotels around EWR, and they all seem to be under $100/night with discounts. There is no way in hell I would want to sleep in the same room as another pilot, so I have no desire to get a crash pad unless there are ones where you get your own room. I would suspect something like that would be pretty expensive. Sounds like I'll have a line within a few months of starting, so hopefully I will be able to get trips that don't require rooms that often.

What else should I be asking? I guess I don't know what I don't know.....

Incredibly lucky to be able to be starting this adventure. I cannot wait!
 
you'll have to get a peek at the loads between MHT and EWR once you get access during indoc to figure out how full the flights are and if there are jumpseaters
the bad news is that there are a lot of NYC BOS commuters, the good news is that there are a ton of flights between the NYC airports to make it work.
you will probably need a crashpad on reserve, as the short call and airport standby shenanigans are in full swing.. unless you end up on a fleet with a lot of movement and can be one of the guys that cashes out a gazillion hotel points sitting in EWR on short call until they can hold a line. If you're not on a reserve assignment you'll probably be flying; this summer is going to be busy if we don't end spring break with a nuclear winter

also, congrats and welcome (I think)
 
you'll have to get a peek at the loads between MHT and EWR once you get access during indoc to figure out how full the flights are and if there are jumpseaters
the bad news is that there are a lot of NYC BOS commuters, the good news is that there are a ton of flights between the NYC airports to make it work.
you will probably need a crashpad on reserve, as the short call and airport standby shenanigans are in full swing.. unless you end up on a fleet with a lot of movement and can be one of the guys that cashes out a gazillion hotel points sitting in EWR on short call until they can hold a line. If you're not on a reserve assignment you'll probably be flying; this summer is going to be busy if we don't end spring break with a nuclear winter

also, congrats and welcome (I think)

OK, thanks. How hard is it to get a trip prior to your reserve block using aggressive pick up? I'd rather get a trip, regardless of how crappy it is, then sit in a hotel or crash pad playing with myself.
 
OK, thanks. How hard is it to get a trip prior to your reserve block using aggressive pick up? I'd rather get a trip, regardless of how crappy it is, then sit in a hotel or crash pad playing with myself.
usually luck of the draw but entirely dependent on how much open time there is in your seat and how many people are on reserve. I was in an underutilized fleet and got a metric ton of airport standby and shortcall and flew around 25hr a month, maybe 3 days a month of long call with no assignments. I didn't really try to APU anything unless it moved me down the FIFO list for the last day so I could get released early
by the time you get into class you'll have a better idea of what the spring and summer flying will look like. I'd anticipate flying a lot. Friends on the 73 were doing like 90hr months
 
Congrats! I believe I work for the airline you’ve received a CJO from. Reserve is a crap shoot. This month I’ve flown 9 hours. As far as commuting I’d make the drive to Boston. Commuting on company metal is better than trying to commute on an RJ. We even run an airbus between BOS-EWR and those all have 2 jumpseats.
 
Congratulations on the new gig. Commuting overall can be tough at times but throw in an RJ and it can cause mental stress. I would drive to BOS and go on company metal. As a backup, Blue Juice Factory use to have about 4 flights a day to EWR but it’s down to 2 and some days just 1. It’s not the worst commute by any means.
 
Congrats! I believe I work for the airline you’ve received a CJO from. Reserve is a crap shoot. This month I’ve flown 9 hours. As far as commuting I’d make the drive to Boston. Commuting on company metal is better than trying to commute on an RJ. We even run an airbus between BOS-EWR and those all have 2 jumpseats.

Thanks!

Which fleet are you on?
 
Congrats! You’ll really like it I think!

Reserve time and life will also depend on fleet obviously… it’s hasn’t been uncommon for the younger guys to be forced into wide bodies and the mandatory two years of global reserve that comes with it. If you get a narrow body and if the current pace continues, you might not be on reserve too too long.
 
Also, as a one day data point, tomorrow’s loads from MHT to EWR have tons of open seats and only one or two non-revs listed. Same with the return trip. One problem though is there are no early flights which will make commuting tough. Also, looks like starting next week they are going down to just two flights a day.
 
Congrats! You’ll really like it I think!

Reserve time and life will also depend on fleet obviously… it’s hasn’t been uncommon for the younger guys to be forced into wide bodies and the mandatory two years of global reserve that comes with it. If you get a narrow body and if the current pace continues, you might not be on reserve too too long.

I'm 43, so I think I'll be mid pack for seniority. I plan on bidding an EWR narrowbody, most likely the 737.

Hypothetical, if I have a low seniority line, can I get away with buying a few hotel rooms every month vs having a full time crash pad?

Also, as a one day data point, tomorrow’s loads from MHT to EWR have tons of open seats and only one or two non-revs listed. Same with the return trip. One problem though is there is only one early flight, the other two are in the afternoon which will make a backup flight tough for barely commutable trips.

I'm not sure what the exact rules are for commuters, its like 1 primary flight and one backup? Can the backup be at a different airport?
 
I'm 43, so I think I'll be mid pack for seniority. I plan on bidding an EWR narrowbody, most likely the 737.

Hypothetical, if I have a low seniority line, can I get away with buying a few hotel rooms every month vs having a full time crash pad?



I'm not sure what the exact rules are for commuters, its like 1 primary flight and one backup? Can the backup be at a different airport?

Yeah, to be commuter policy compliant you’d need two viable flights that both get you in before report time. You can go with just one, but if you don’t get it you aren’t protected.

As a low seniority line holder with zero commutable trips you’d need a hotel at the front and back end of every trip. That could be 8 rooms for like $900. A crash pad would make sense for that. With a little seniority you could be down to one or two rooms a month with no need for a crash pad. I’m not a commuter, but as a reference, at two years seniority I can hold fully commutable trips.
 
And yes, the back up can be to/from any airport that gets you there in time. Some people will fly to LGA and Uber over if they have too.

Also, the narrow bodies cover LGA so plan on that pain too.
 
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