Commuting

[sbe]

Didn't know where it was best to post this - but I *am* a (potential) career changer, so came here. LONGtime member of this forum - originally wanted to change careers about a decade ago. I'm ba-ack. I am seriously considering, once again, pursuing a flying career. I've taken numerous 121 and corporate friends to lunch in the past few weeks and picked their brains, and my husband is totally on board if I go with it. (He too is a pilot and once considered going toward an airline career.) I am just a bit short of 1500 and need to go get multi time up. Most of my time is CFI'ing. This would be a change next summer (unfortunately, yes I know seniority is everything) as I own a business with obligated bookings until that point. I am hoping to make a decision in the next couple of months so I can quit accepting bookings and move forward with this.

I've tried to research typical schedules at the regional level (if there's such a thing as "typical") both reserve and line, and my only remaining concern with pursuing this is commutability of regional jobs. Although we have always toyed with following careers to other parts of the country, my husband has a pretty great job here and all of our family is here; we're also "lifers" in this city. So....how hellish will my time as a reserve FO at the regionals be if I commute? I live practically just across the interstate from KMCI (Kansas City) - literally 5 minutes away. I don't want to get caught in a trap of picking a job based on commute when I know there are so many other important factors such as upgrade time and, um, will the company still be around for me to work there for a while. I haven't talked to a whole lot of guys/gals yet at the regional level and what they've dealt with as commuters both starting out and after they've had some years under their belt, but hope to do so, starting here.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience - although I've dreamed of doing this since I was 14 and am a very, very driven individual, at my age (41) QOL *does* play a bit of a factor in my decision. I realize this is a VERY broad question as your experiences can vary widely based on airline and domicile (and home base) - I'm just still trying to sort all this out.

Thanks in advance!
Sarah

 

[bharatbachani]

Republic airlines is looking for a FO based out of Kansas City. If you are interested in corporate aviation with based out of Kansas City then Executive Airshare out of KMKC.

 

[sbe]

Thanks for the reply, bharatbachani! Republic and ExpressJet, at least the last I heard, are closing the MCI pilot domiciles this year. My flight instructing is/was at MKC so I'm familiar with EAS - some horror stories from the SIC guys I knew that flew there. QOL worse than the crappiest commute I could conjure up as a reserve FO flying 121. I figure I am going to be commuting, period, if I do this. And I'm cool with that, just wanting to get some insight as to what to expect off the bat.

 

[bharatbachani]

Gotcha, Your welcome....

 

[Blackhawk]

I commuted out of MCI from 2002-2006 while my wife was in medical school.

Keep your commutes to one leg.
Understand that regionals change bases about as much as people change underwear. Normally, however, they will keep their major bases. For example, I see XJT keeping IAH as an ERJ base and ATL as a RJ base for the foreseeable future.
Try to keep the commute to under 2 hours.
Try to get a base that either has flights on "your metal" (meaning you fly to MCI), or at least the legacy you support does. Of course the regional supporting MCI probably changes every few months. On your metal you have priority for the jumpseat and can even reserve it. Most legacy carriers will give their feeders jumpseat priority over other pilots, after their own of course. Finally, you might get lucky and be able to get trips that start with a dead head to MCI.
Look at a base with multiple flights each day.
Look at airlines with good commuter clauses.
Look for multiple bases that fit the above. For example, I had ATL and DFW. My base was ATL but I was able to swap with DFW trips in open time if they were better for commuting. It also gave me more options if one base closed down. Currently XJT has DFW, DTW and ATL on the CRJ side, all pretty good commutes.

MCI is not the best airport for commuting as you often find yourself having to get rescreened if your first flight does not work, or even having to take a shuttle to another terminal, then go through screening. A pain.
Commuting on reserve will stink. Fortunately I never did.

 

[sbe]

SUPER helpful. Thank you Blackhawk!!! I know it may be rough for a while.

 

[poser765]

Is Republic really thinking about closing down MCI? I hadn't heard that. Of course I am not on the YX side of the company.

Blackhawk hit a lot of the stuff with his post. So I will just add a bit of metaphysical stuff. Commuting is what you make of it. If you just accept it as part of the game and don't stress about it it's not that bad. I know guys that are miserable commuting, but they are the kind that commute in the day of leaving themselves 20 minutes to get from their commute do the gate to start check in, then turn around and explode out of the airplane as soon as we block in at ORD C6 so they can make their flight in 20 minutes from G17. That crap will kill you.

I get wanting to be home...I really do, but it's just not worth all the hassle to make it so critical. I never hustle to catch a flight, and I don't sweat it if I have to spend the night. I keep it nice and calm. In the end it is what it is...

I've commuted for my entire 3 years in the airlines and haven't burnt out yet. I will say this...there is a hierarchy of acceptability. It goes like this:

1 Live in base
2 One leg commute
3 Quit flying and work as a janitor in an adult theater
4 two leg commute

A two leg commute is just about the worst thing you can do. Especially if on reserve.

 

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, attitude is big. Granted, I do sprint to the gate at times trying to make a flight, but I go with the attitude that I won't make it. Also, I don't hose my crew. For example, if the FO commutes and has a tight connection I makes sure he/she is taken care of first.
Spousal support is key. My wife use to get mad if I did not make it home. She has mellowed some, however, which has meant much less stress for me.
There are times when I could come in the same day but come in the day prior, get a cheap hotel room, and show up rested versus getting up at 0400 to catch a flight when I know I won't duty out day 1 until 1900.

 

[sbe]

I may be mistaken on closing out MCI as far as Republic is concerned. I may have misread. They are phasing out their Q400s, not necessarily closing down MCI (MCI is a Q400 base). I'm pretty sure Express Jet is closing their MCI base. In any event, this is SUPER helpful to me! I'll keep all this in mind going forward.

I am super fortunate in the "spousal support" department. I realize I'm not *in* the job yet, but my husband has been amazing through the process of me making this decision. He too is a pilot (not airline, but he's actually got quite a few more hours than I...) and worked for 15 years as a police officer - though he slept in his own bed at night, he's well versed on working weekends, holidays, nights....to be honest, I've had to check him in a bit because he has been telling everyone who will listen that I am more than likely pursuing this.

Sarah

 

[Cheyenne]

I will never ever commute east bound again through a time zone. It makes early showtimes impossible. If you must commute, commute within your time zone or west bound and only one leg.

 

[Vyse]

For Republic, there are E175s based there doing both American and Airways flying. It is the second smallest base in the RAH system (after GSO) but it is also their westernmost MX base. There were some rumors earlier this year of it being on the chopping block, but with them now getting United flying, and that United flying eventually planned to move west, it would make sense for them to keep it open. But airline management doesn't always follow common sense...

This post should not be construed as a recommendation to work at Republic, but as the previous posters have mentioned, living in base means a lot.
If you do decide to commute, from MCI you could have reasonable commutes to DEN, MSP, DFW, STL, and ORD, and that would cover many of the regionals out there.

Hope this helps and good luck! (I'm a career changer myself who started at the same age, so it can definitely be done)

 

[sbe]

Thanks!! I've done a boatload of research since making this post and have studied commutability extensively! Since I'm in a situation where I can't interview until probably next July (with the booked work my business already has ), I will be monitoring Republic's situation closely between now and then. I'm also eyeing other regionals that have bases in most of the cities you have mentioned, some more than others! Thanks so much for the good wishes! I've made my decision and am pursuing SOMETHING in aviation, we will see where the next year takes me!

Sarah

 

[Blackhawk]

For Republic, there are E175s based there doing both American and Airways flying. It is the second smallest base in the RAH system (after GSO) but it is also their westernmost MX base. There were some rumors earlier this year of it being on the chopping block, but with them now getting United flying, and that United flying eventually planned to move west, it would make sense for them to keep it open. But airline management doesn't always follow common sense...

This post should not be construed as a recommendation to work at Republic, but as the previous posters have mentioned, living in base means a lot.
If you do decide to commute, from MCI you could have reasonable commutes to DEN, MSP, DFW, STL, and ORD, and that would cover many of the regionals out there.

Hope this helps and good luck! (I'm a career changer myself who started at the same age, so it can definitely be done)

DTW does not look bad.

I did ATL for four years when I lived in MCI and it was not a bad commute considering it was ATL. Looks like 11 flights/day. Granted, SWA did not have an ATL base back then, but there were some AirTran pilots.
The only down side to an MCI commute is the airport layout. If you don't get on one flight you are pretty much guaranteed going through security for your next flight; maybe even a terminal sprint.

 

[sbe]

Blackhawk, thanks! This thread's fairly old from when I was first entertaining the career change to fly (I'm now 99% certain I'm headed this direction...really probably 100% ). But, I am glad to have your input on ATL and DTW. Unfortunately since I've posted this Republic does look like a no-go for me....for obvious reasons. If something took a miraculous turn I'll revisit it but as of now my goal is to be ready to hire right around the first of the year which isn't *that* far off. Right now I'd say I'm probably most interested in TransStates and a STL commute (which could also be a drive), but there's still time for that to change.

 

[Slim11]

First of all, commuting sucks. That's all there is to it.

However, it you must commute, the situation you are in (being able to drive when flying isn't practical.), is the next best thing. I was based in DTW until Comair was shut down by Delta. I live between CVG and DAY. The drive from my driveway to the employee lot at DTW was 3:45 with no stops. When I was on short call reserve, I had a crash pad but, on occasion, would drive to TOL and spend the day of reserve there (we had a 90 minute call out time.).

I spent a little less than two years at TSA following the Comair closure. I don't remember if the STL call out time was 90 minutes or two hours. I was IAD-based and it was two hours there.

 

[sbe]

Thanks!! I know commuting sucks. I think now I've *hopefully* found the next best option....since RAH is really not an option to me in their present state. It's unfortunate, but...