Commuting out of Florida for new-hire Expressjet and Compass pilots

D

dutch_76

New Member
Hi Guys,

I am considering employment opportunities with both Expressjet and Compass Airlines very soon. My situation is that my wife and kids must remain in Boca Raton, FL, and I would therefore have to commute to MSP, DTW(for Compass) or EWR, ORD, CLE or IAH(for Expressjet). Does anyone know which of those domiciles are the junior ones for new-hires these days?

Can anyone share their advice/experiences with the following:

1.) Quality of life, average days off per week if commuting into and out of Florida to those domiciles as a new-hire.
2.) Which airports in FL, given being based in Boca Raton, would give me the best options for commutes into and out of Florida with low seniority? For example: MIA, FLL, PBI, or MCO.
3.) Would it be absolutely necessary to get a crashpad/hotel, or can one smartly commute out of Florida to arrive within a couple hours before report time for early starts?

Thanks guys...
 
None of the answers as I no longer live there but FL is an expert commute.
 
I know several people that commute out of Florida to DTW and all I ever hear is that it's a biatch! However, lots of hotels around here in DTW offering crew rates from $30-$50/nite.
 
dutch_76 said:
Hi Guys,

I am considering employment opportunities with both Expressjet and Compass Airlines very soon. My situation is that my wife and kids must remain in Boca Raton, FL, and I would therefore have to commute to MSP, DTW(for Compass) or EWR, ORD, CLE or IAH(for Expressjet). Does anyone know which of those domiciles are the junior ones for new-hires these days?

Can anyone share their advice/experiences with the following:

1.) Quality of life, average days off per week if commuting into and out of Florida to those domiciles as a new-hire.
2.) Which airports in FL, given being based in Boca Raton, would give me the best options for commutes into and out of Florida with low seniority? For example: MIA, FLL, PBI, or MCO.
3.) Would it be absolutely necessary to get a crashpad/hotel, or can one smartly commute out of Florida to arrive within a couple hours before report time for early starts?

Thanks guys...
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I fear youre not fully aware of the "joys" ahead of you. Ill let someone who works at those places chime in with official answer though. Bonne Chance!
 
All I know is that DTW and MSP are quite the PIA. The only place I would consider ever commuting out of FL is RSW and even then there are tons of commuters ( worked there and used to Non-Rev back to MSP, through DTW most of the time) You will most definately need a crashpad, there is no possible way to not have one.
 
dutch_76 said:
3.) Would it be absolutely necessary to get a crashpad/hotel, or can one smartly commute out of Florida to arrive within a couple hours before report time for early starts?..
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Like someone else mentioned, it seems you may not know the headaches that you are about to begin.

You will be on Reserve for several months/a year/a few years. You will be given call out times such as 3AM, 4:30AM, 6AM, etc. There is NO POSSIBLE way to commute to any of those bases from FL with any of those call out times, on the same day.

I am on Reserve for XJT based in ORD, and each week I fly into ORD the night before my 5-day block of Reserve days begins.
Hopefully on day 5 I finish before 7pm so I can take the last flight back to FLL.

I go home for 1-2 days, then repeat the cycle ad nauseum. Oh, and trying to figure out each time if I'm going to even get on the flight (they're all full, with lots of senior commuters) adds to the fun. Enjoy commuting, it sucks! Enjoy your family now, since you'll be gone way more than you are home.
 
No chance of just moving to a base?

If I had a child, there would be no way in hell I'd be commuting to NY off the west coast if I had a choice.
 
FLflyer said:
Like someone else mentioned, it seems you may not know the headaches that you are about to begin.

You will be on Reserve for several months/a year/a few years. You will be given call out times such as 3AM, 4:30AM, 6AM, etc. There is NO POSSIBLE way to commute to any of those bases from FL with any of those call out times, on the same day.

I am on Reserve for XJT based in ORD, and each week I fly into ORD the night before my 5-day block of Reserve days begins.
Hopefully on day 5 I finish before 7pm so I can take the last flight back to FLL.

I go home for 1-2 days, then repeat the cycle ad nauseum. Oh, and trying to figure out each time if I'm going to even get on the flight (they're all full, with lots of senior commuters) adds to the fun. Enjoy commuting, it sucks! Enjoy your family now, since you'll be gone way more than you are home.
Click to expand...
FLflyer said:
Like someone else mentioned, it seems you may not know the headaches that you are about to begin.

You will be on Reserve for several months/a year/a few years. You will be given call out times such as 3AM, 4:30AM, 6AM, etc. There is NO POSSIBLE way to commute to any of those bases from FL with any of those call out times, on the same day.

I am on Reserve for XJT based in ORD, and each week I fly into ORD the night before my 5-day block of Reserve days begins.
Hopefully on day 5 I finish before 7pm so I can take the last flight back to FLL.

I go home for 1-2 days, then repeat the cycle ad nauseum. Oh, and trying to figure out each time if I'm going to even get on the flight (they're all full, with lots of senior commuters) adds to the fun. Enjoy commuting, it sucks! Enjoy your family now, since you'll be gone way more than you are home.
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I assume you fly out of FLL weekly. Which airlines do you usually get on with as I heard some are easier than others. Would it be easier for me to commute to another city in the US where there are less commuters than FL and then take another flight to my domicile?
 
2 leg commutes are suicidal in most cases. Also, you are not going to be able to get any priorty on Jumpseating since neither company will be operating the flight. This means you have a higher likelyhood of being bumped off the jumpseat. How locked into Florida are you? I would be prepared to spend 5-6 days a week on the road with the commute to reserve.
 
BUYING a full fare ticket to MSP or DTW is difficult for me from Florida most of the time.

Trying to commute on reserve? Your wife would kill you.
 
The crappy thing is Compass most likely will have alot faster upward movement to a line, higher credit and possibly upgrade. IMHO, and by crappy I mean in the fact the commute most likely is harder
 
ClarkGriswold said:
The crappy thing is Compass most likely will have alot faster upward movement to a line, higher credit and possibly upgrade. IMHO, and by crappy I mean in the fact the commute most likely is harder
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Why do you call the fast movement and upgrade at Compass crappy compared to being on reserve though?
 
dutch_76 said:
Why do you call the fast movement and upgrade at Compass crappy compared to being on reserve though?
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I guess I worded it poorly, Compass will probably have faster movement like I said but the crappy thing is that the commute to MSP or DTW is probably the hardest of the ones listed BUT the others will be very difficult too and make any chance of a home life non existant unfortuantely. Id pick Compass because you will most likely move up quicker into a line and no matter which one you pick youll need a crahpad and there will be weeks where you dont make it home. Sorry
 
I used to commute MCO-DTW. If there is a hell, this was close to it. When you're at a regional your priority is below pond scum. I assume commuting from any FL city to DTW or MSP is rough. I've flown into TPA or JAX and had to rent a car to get home. It hands down was the worst airline year of my life.
 
FLL to DTW has a lot of frequency, but there are scores of jumpseaters. During the winter, just plan to be in the jumpseat and hope its an A320 that day.
 
ljg said:
FLL to DTW has a lot of frequency, but there are scores of jumpseaters. During the winter, just plan to be in the jumpseat and hope its an A320 that day.
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I understand.

And I suppose I could forget all about MIA and PBI.
 
I've been commuting FLL-ABQ and FLL -ORD through out the last year, and basically the only reason I get anywhere is Southwest. The FLL-ABQ commute is always a 2 leg commute and it sucks, FLL-ORD usually becomes FLL-MDW because of Southwest. It's bad in winter because of all the snowbirds and vacations and it's bad in the summer because all the airlines reduce service to FL. Communting keeps getting harder and harder no matter where you are based and FL to anywhere is definately not easy.
 
Eagle421flyer said:
I've been commuting FLL-ABQ and FLL -ORD through out the last year, and basically the only reason I get anywhere is Southwest. The FLL-ABQ commute is always a 2 leg commute and it sucks, FLL-ORD usually becomes FLL-MDW because of Southwest. It's bad in winter because of all the snowbirds and vacations and it's bad in the summer because all the airlines reduce service to FL. Communting keeps getting harder and harder no matter where you are based and FL to anywhere is definately not easy.
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Are 'out-and-backs' frequent in regional airline trips, where one can leave his domicile and have the last flight of the evening return to the same domicile. Especially at ExpressJet and Compass...

Looks like commuting out of Florida is almost unrealistic for a regional new-hire....
 
Don't forget the freighters. I think people forget that there are all nighter options that might work for someone who can catch some sleep in a jumpseat. UPS goes to SDF from all the major airports in S. Florida. You could connect into any of the airports you mention. After the story came out of the Colgan crash F/O commuting into a trip on Fedex, I almost hate to mention commuting across the country all night to work the next day, but it could work for the right person.
 
DE727UPS said:
Don't forget the freighters. I think people forget that there are all nighter options that might work for someone who can catch some sleep in a jumpseat. UPS goes to SDF from all the major airports in S. Florida. You could connect into any of the airports you mention. After the story came out of the Colgan crash F/O commuting into a trip on Fedex, I almost hate to mention commuting across the country all night to work the next day, but it could work for the right person.
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Don is right! Im willing to bet you are going to hold the coveted days of tues/wed off on reserve. The good thing is you can use the freight options as listed above. It's a two leg commute but it is a guaranteed seat. If you hold weekends off, by some miracle, then this is not going to be an option. Best of luck. Commuting sucks!
 
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