For the airline pilots...

GreenDayPilot

GreenDayPilot

Well-Known Member
How long after you applied did you get the call for an interview?


FOR THOSE WHO COMMUTE- Is it easy? pain in the ass? how far is too far?

Thanks...
 
GreenDayPilot said:
How long after you applied did you get the call for an interview?


FOR THOSE WHO COMMUTE- Is it easy? pain in the ass? how far is too far?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

I got the call about two weeks after submitting my stuff for one airline and about six for another.

Commuting ALL DEPENDS. Not all commutes are equal. You need to consider the following (I'm sure others will chime in):

- Number of Legs
- Number of flights per day
- Loads on those flights
- Reliability of those flights (on-time performance could be drastically different depending on what airline and airport you fly through)
- Online vs. Offline Commuting
- Other pilots trying to commute (are they more senior or employed by the airline you're jumping on? How many are there?)
- Timezones/Distance (could take a toll)
- Does your airline build commutable trips (late shows/early ends)?
- Does your airline have a commuter clause?


Good luck! Feel free to PM me with any specific questions...

J.
 
thats something I always wodnered. just how many seats are there? being the new guy you are at the bottom of the list, and i'm sure you wouldn't be the only person commuting. what happens if you can't get on a damn plane because the seats are always taken? lol
 
taseal said:
thats something I always wodnered. just how many seats are there? being the new guy you are at the bottom of the list, and i'm sure you wouldn't be the only person commuting. what happens if you can't get on a damn plane because the seats are always taken? lol
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Hope that your company has a commuter policy:)!
 
Except for about my first three months at UPS, I've been a commuter. It's worked well for me, to include, bidding reserve in LA. I worked 5 days out of 30 on my last reserve schedule. That beats being a lineholder, in my fairly senior lineholder capable book.

Every situation is different. You can't compare mine to being an Xjet guy in ONT or a Skywest guy. If that's what you're up against, then you need specific feedback.
 
Ehhh.... If you're in love with where you live, commute. Otherwise, move to the base.
 
I currently commute to work, and it is a pain in the ass. It gets old very fast, epspecially since I have a 2 leg commute. I usually go BOI-SLC-CVG or JFK or I go through ATL. I'm suppose to transfer to CVG on Oct. 1, so I'm going to move there.
 
taseal said:
so commuter policy = yes to commuting
no commuter policy = no commuting?

or is it like, when there is a commuting policy, you get benefits of some kind?
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A commuter policy will basically cover you if you don't make it to work. Ours (which actually isn't negotiated which means the company could pull it at any time) says that as long as you list for 2 flights that have seats open 24 hours before your show time (and that can include a jumpseat on a online flight, but not another carrier) if you don't make it to work they won't penalize you. You won't get paid for what you don't fly but they won't mark it as a no show or force you to call in sick. There are a whole bunch of clauses and exceptions and rules, but that's the basics of it. Before, even with out the commuter clause tons of guys commuted, but if they didn't make the flight and were going to miss the start of their trip they would have had to call in sick.
 
Its something every pilot faces in his career...Commute and upgrade or hold a better schedule. Don't commute and take what you can get.

Even the shortest commute can be a bummer at times. If its a long, offline commute it can be hell.

Every option has its tradeoffs. What are you gaining from the sacrifice? That's the essential question.
 
Got invited to my interveiw at SkyWest 3 weeks after attending one of their career fairs. I'm still waiting on ExpressJet, and its been over 4 months. I must have fallen through a crack. SkyWest was my first choice though, so no worries.
 
I got the call a little over 8 hours after submitting.

As for commuting - I'll let you know in a couple of months!
 
Thanks all! I was wondering cause I got a call 2 days after I applied to Republic, but am still waiting for a call from my preferred airline.

I really don't want to move from SoCal cause of my family and friends, so I'd really like to commute to my base. I don't want it biting me in the ass later when I'm barely making it to work and what not...
 
GreenDayPilot said:
Thanks all! I was wondering cause I got a call 2 days after I applied to Republic, but am still waiting for a call from my preferred airline.

I really don't want to move from SoCal cause of my family and friends, so I'd really like to commute to my base. I don't want it biting me in the ass later when I'm barely making it to work and what not...
Click to expand...

I got called by Eagle a couple of days after submitting. ExpressJet took three months and was really rude when they did ("You're going to Eagle? Ha ha ha! We'll talk to you when you reapply here in three months!). Skywest took 11 months, but that's because they stopped hiring right as I applied. If you'd really rather go somewhere other than Republic, I'd wait on it. As desperate as regionals are there's no reason not to go to your first choice now.

I would not plan on a long/2-leg commute as a long-term option. I'm trying to do TUS-BNA right now, and it sucks. I finished a 4-day trip at 10PM last night, took a redeye through ATL and got home a little before 9AM, but I'm not functioning real well right now. It can be pretty stressful, and there will be times when you just can't make it home, which is really depressing.
 
On the what is too far question, you really cant put a mileage number on it. Dads BGR->EWR commute is far worse than a DFW->EWR commute. Heck the last time down he never got on an airplane. Drive BGR-PWM, bus PWM-BOS, get bumped off the 930 am flight, 1100 cancelles. He decided to take amtrak down. The 130 ended up returing to the gate twice with the crew timing out. The 230 made it to EWR for the Captain to get on the airplane at 1030 PM. And that is a 400 mile commute.

I'd wait with your times for your choice of regionals to call. There are enough good ones with bases in SoCal that commuting to the East coast shouldnt be an option.
 
Depends!

I think the litmus test is this:

(purely hypothetical)

Your airline says, "You must move to base immediately or be fired".

If you pick up and move without hesitation, you probably shouldn't commute.

If you start thumbing through the classifieds for other employment, you'll do just fine commuting! ;)
 
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