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

Dutch, let me give you the last 2 cents that I can spare from my last paycheck:

Don't plan on two leg commutes, especially that long. Now for cpz:

DTW is junior; however MSP is a bigger bas (80:360 ratio) and with anticipated movement you could hold your choice fairly quickly.

I have only commuted in and out of msp, but I never had any real problems. ATL is always busy and I hear MSP-DTW is brutal, but then again any hub to hub flying is dangerous stuff.

FedEx and UPS are amazing because you sign up and you have a guaranteed seat. They run overnight though, so its a fatiguing experience and I wouldn't want to do it everytime. Also just about every commute has a long(er) layover in MEM, SDF or IND.

Callouts won't be 2 or 3 am. Usually 5:30 is the earliest but it always varies month to month based on first flight of the day. Latest is usually midnight, right around when the last flight leaves.

Let me reiterate: planning that long of a 2 leg commute will give you AT MOST 5 days at home a month. Seriously you will go weeks without seeing your family. Just food for thought.
 
crazyjaydawg said:
Dutch, let me give you the last 2 cents that I can spare from my last paycheck:

Don't plan on two leg commutes, especially that long. Now for cpz:

DTW is junior; however MSP is a bigger bas (80:360 ratio) and with anticipated movement you could hold your choice fairly quickly.

I have only commuted in and out of msp, but I never had any real problems. ATL is always busy and I hear MSP-DTW is brutal, but then again any hub to hub flying is dangerous stuff.

FedEx and UPS are amazing because you sign up and you have a guaranteed seat. They run overnight though, so its a fatiguing experience and I wouldn't want to do it everytime. Also just about every commute has a long(er) layover in MEM, SDF or IND.

Callouts won't be 2 or 3 am. Usually 5:30 is the earliest but it always varies month to month based on first flight of the day. Latest is usually midnight, right around when the last flight leaves.

Let me reiterate: planning that long of a 2 leg commute will give you AT MOST 5 days at home a month. Seriously you will go weeks without seeing your family. Just food for thought.
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Thanks for he advice.

I would certainly want to be home more than 5 days if possible. Besides Fedex and UPS, what other more direct commute would you suggest?
 
dutch_76 said:
Thanks for he advice.

I would certainly want to be home more than 5 days if possible. Besides Fedex and UPS, what other more direct commute would you suggest?
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Doug hit the nail on the head with the first reply. FL is tough.

That being said seasonaly (sp?) You can get direct flights from most of those FL airports to any of the XJT or CPZ hubs that you listed. The competition is fierce and you will be upfront most, if not all of the time, but the frequency is there. During down seasons the frequency is down, but so is the competition. EWR would be nice because you always have JFK and less so LGA as backups that you can take public transit if you absolutely had to. jetBlue also serves both EWR and JFK and all of FL and they're awesome to commute on so you'd have that.

Honestly though I wouldn't put too much weight on the commute as bases may (and often do) change frequently. As improbable as it seems you may want to look into relocating. Sitting reserve at home is an amazing thing, just weigh all the pros and cons. Don't tunnel vision yourself into one or two commutes.
 
At Compass most guys get DTW for the first month and are then able to hold MSP right after if you want that. Scheduling has given me an afternoon show everytime I wanted it to commute in day of and they are very good about giving me a standup the night before my last day so when I land in the morning I can commute right out. My sim partner commutes out of MCO and hasn't had many issues. Airtran is an option out of there as well as two legging through Atlanta.
 
Goldmember said:
At Compass most guys get DTW for the first month and are then able to hold MSP right after if you want that. Scheduling has given me an afternoon show everytime I wanted it to commute in day of and they are very good about giving me a standup the night before my last day so when I land in the morning I can commute right out. My sim partner commutes out of MCO and hasn't had many issues. Airtran is an option out of there as well as two legging through Atlanta.
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I wouldn't wish two legging out of ATL on my worst enemy. Especially in the summer. Problem with ATL, when a revenue passenger misses their flight, gate agents just send them to ATL since they know there are flights going out of there. I've seen a 757 go from 30 open seats the night before to -15 the next morning on an MCO-ATL flight. We had a guy just trying to get to training in MEM. After he couldn't get on 3 ATL flights, he just opted for the direct MEM flight on a DC-9. Couldn't get on a 757/767. Not enough seats. That's just getting TO ATL. When I was commuting MEM-JFK, I never went through ATL. If I made it there, I'd likely never get out. Now, if you're Delta mainline, you run a better shot at it. With us contract carriers and our S3C priority, only off-line jumpseaters, a few retirees and ZED/buddy passengers are behind us.

Not sure about AirTran, but it's probably easier to get on them....
 
kellwolf said:
With us contract carriers and our S3C priority, only off-line jumpseaters, a few retirees and ZED/buddy passengers are behind us.

Not sure about AirTran, but it's probably easier to get on them....
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I think even my cat is an S-3 :(
 
kellwolf said:
I wouldn't wish two legging out of ATL on my worst enemy. Especially in the summer. Problem with ATL, when a revenue passenger misses their flight, gate agents just send them to ATL since they know there are flights going out of there. I've seen a 757 go from 30 open seats the night before to -15 the next morning on an MCO-ATL flight. We had a guy just trying to get to training in MEM. After he couldn't get on 3 ATL flights, he just opted for the direct MEM flight on a DC-9. Couldn't get on a 757/767. Not enough seats. That's just getting TO ATL. When I was commuting MEM-JFK, I never went through ATL. If I made it there, I'd likely never get out. Now, if you're Delta mainline, you run a better shot at it. With us contract carriers and our S3C priority, only off-line jumpseaters, a few retirees and ZED/buddy passengers are behind us.

Not sure about AirTran, but it's probably easier to get on them....
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Cockpit jumpseat? :D
 
Im pretty sure Airtran doesn't bump people up to first class like Delta does so when there are Firsts open they usually stay open.
 
cmhumphr said:
Cockpit jumpseat? :D
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See Derg and my discussion about cockpit jumpseats on Delta. There are a LOT of mainline jumpseaters. By the time we get to the plane, normally the jumpseat has been secured by a mainline guy a week ago. I tend to just try to stay off of Delta when I commute. I have better luck and odds over at jetBlue going to JFK. ATL I've never experienced, but I heard horror stories even before I moved back down here. Delta used to have a base in MCO, so there are a lot of guys that were based here "back in the day" that are now commuters.
 
Derg said:
I think even my cat is an S-3 :(
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I went to S3C at age 23, and then realized it was time to get an airline job.

I've never had a problem in Atlanta BUT I don't find myself out at Widget Central that often either. My family did get stuck there. On S1A emergency travel. On the way back from a funeral, no less. :(


Sent from Seat 3D
 
kellwolf said:
See Derg and my discussion about cockpit jumpseats on Delta. There are a LOT of mainline jumpseaters. By the time we get to the plane, normally the jumpseat has been secured by a mainline guy a week ago. I tend to just try to stay off of Delta when I commute. I have better luck and odds over at jetBlue going to JFK. ATL I've never experienced, but I heard horror stories even before I moved back down here. Delta used to have a base in MCO, so there are a lot of guys that were based here "back in the day" that are now commuters.
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There are CRAPLOADS of Southernjetters commuting out of Florida. MCO, TPA, JAX, MIA, PNS, etc. With the merger, even more. And yes, we have the ability to book a jumpseat (I think) ten days in advance. There used to be a MCO and a MIA base and a lot of guys just stayed. Still FA bases down there too.
 
Derg said:
There are CRAPLOADS of Southernjetters commuting out of Florida. MCO, TPA, JAX, MIA, PNS, etc. With the merger, even more. And yes, we have the ability to book a jumpseat (I think) ten days in advance. There used to be a MCO and a MIA base and a lot of guys just stayed. Still FA bases down there too.
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Absolutely correct...an MCO to ATL commute is dang near impossible.
 
For the people that I know that commute from South FL to EWR, it seems like the most success is usually on JetBlue. There are a ton of CAL commuters from FLL and MIA.
 
For those wondering how it is on MCO-ATL, just watched a 757 push back and there were 27 non-revs that didn't make it....
 
Goldmember said:
Im pretty sure Airtran doesn't bump people up to first class like Delta does so when there are Firsts open they usually stay open.
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This would be incorrect. I fly AirTran from ATL to DTW almost weekly and I get business class a lot.
 
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