Pilot Dorms?

A320_DUDE

A320_DUDE

Well-Known Member
With commuting coming under a spotlight in the aftermath of the 3407 crash and reading about people that sleep in the crew lounges, I can't help but wonder why the airlines just don't do "Dorm" rooms in their hub cities. Even Greyhound (who will spend a buck to save a dime)has dorms for their drivers who don't live in the cities they are based out of, at NO cost to us. They figure it's cheaper to put us up than the lawsuits they'll get if one of us rolls one over. If they can find spots for us lowly drivers in places like NYC,Boston, and DC than the airlines should have NO problem finding you guys spots. Knowing that I'm gonna get warm bed at no cost to me takes alot of stress out of my commute as I'm sure it would be for alot of pilots.

On a side note....Something really needs to be done the starting rates at the "regional level". I just finished my first year as a motorcoach guy and I made 42K....and that was with me being 24 out of 25 on the extraboard. It is wrong that after paying for college and flight training and coming out with 100+K in debt that the best I've seen is QX who I think starts at about 27K. I still want to do the airline thing but I can't make the numbers work. Hell, if I stay here till I make top rate I could make 100k easy just driving. So I sit back and take my PPL lessons at HFD and hope that somehow things will change.
 
Two words: Bean Counters

Companies will spend a buck to save a dime because they're dealing with different pots of money, and nobody wants their budget cut into. The gubmint is really bad about this, BTW. As far as the airline is concerned, either you live where you're based, or it's your choice to live elsewhere and therefore your responsibility to get to work on time with proper crew rest. While it'd be nice for the airlines to set up some kind of cost-neutral billeting option in base, it's probably a bit much to expect something like that at no cost. Besides, you're probably better off just getting a crashpad with a few buddies on the open market.
 
I didn't know Greyhound offered dorms, that is nice. I have to say, every day, more and more, I feel like a piece of crap to my company and the industry in general.

My BIL graduated college making $80k base w/ overtime at $50/hr. His company provides free meals at work. He went to a company picnic a few weeks after getting hired and him and his guest got a free $100 Best Buy gift certificate. He's treated with respect. Meanwhile we get nothing. What a joke of an industry (or maybe it's just me).
 
UPS and FedEx both have these huge pilot lounges with lots of recliners. They don't have rules about sleeping in the pilot lounges like the airlines have though. They also have these bunk rooms with beds and stuff!
 
How about live where you are based and pilots as a whole need to come up with a way to be able to make lateral moves to another airline when their airline packs up and leaves town.

3407 was a bad deal but to me it seems using it to push for higher pay will be a waste of opportunity when there are so many other things that should be addressed and have a more realistic chance of being improved.

The pay issue is a supply and demand thing, the other stuff can be turned into a safety issue and that will turn heads right now.
 
To be brutally honest, commuting has gotten out of hand. It would be a good thing for the FAA to prohibit it, or at least make rules that include commuting time as part of your duty time.

That said, they would also have to force the airlines to pay for personal moves when bases are downsized or re-adjusted. People should live in their base and they should be paid to move when the base closes or downsizes.

Bullet proof vest on, let the invectives flow :argue:


Typhoonpilot
 
typhoonpilot said:
To be brutally honest, commuting has gotten out of hand. It would be a good thing for the FAA to prohibit it, or at least make rules that include commuting time as part of your duty time.

That said, they would also have to force the airlines to pay for personal moves when bases are downsized or re-adjusted. People should live in their base and they should be paid to move when the base closes or downsizes.

Bullet proof vest on, let the invectives flow :argue:


Typhoonpilot
Click to expand...

I agree with that. I don't see it happening. What the airlines could do is put commuters up in hotels.
 
typhoonpilot said:
To be brutally honest, commuting has gotten out of hand. It would be a good thing for the FAA to prohibit it, or at least make rules that include commuting time as part of your duty time.

That said, they would also have to force the airlines to pay for personal moves when bases are downsized or re-adjusted. People should live in their base and they should be paid to move when the base closes or downsizes.

Bullet proof vest on, let the invectives flow :argue:


Typhoonpilot
Click to expand...

If by that you mean the company has to buy the house the pilot lives in then I am all for that. One guy in my new hire class moved to Dallas and bought a nice little home. One year and four bases later he now commutes from Dallas to the northeast. His house is on the market but who know when it will sell.
 
typhoonpilot said:
To be brutally honest, commuting has gotten out of hand. It would be a good thing for the FAA to prohibit it, or at least make rules that include commuting time as part of your duty time.

That said, they would also have to force the airlines to pay for personal moves when bases are downsized or re-adjusted. People should live in their base and they should be paid to move when the base closes or downsizes.

Bullet proof vest on, let the invectives flow :argue:


Typhoonpilot
Click to expand...

While I dont agree with you, that they should prohibit commuting. I can see how it has gotten out of hand. Commuting is a privilege, not a right. Unfortunately there is a small handful that abuse it, that can ruin it for the rest of us.

I hate commuting. But I choose to do it. and I dont blame the company at all for ANY stress that it causes. I lived in base for a year, but I decided I would rather commute so that I can be close to my friends and family. Its a choice I made. Not the company. They have no obligation to get me a hotel, dorm, food, or a couch to sleep on.

An airlines' pilot domiciles are not a secret. So if you dont want to commute, dont apply to airlines that don't have a base where you live. That may severely limit your options but thats the choice you make.
 
Gonzo said:
If by that you mean the company has to buy the house the pilot lives in then I am all for that. One guy in my new hire class moved to Dallas and bought a nice little home. One year and four bases later he now commutes from Dallas to the northeast. His house is on the market but who know when it will sell.
Click to expand...

The major I worked for did have a clause in the old contract that provided for just that. If, after some reasonable period of time, the house didn't sell then the company would buy it.


I hate commuting. But I choose to do it. and I dont blame the company at all for ANY stress that it causes. I lived in base for a year, but I decided I would rather commute so that I can be close to my friends and family. Its a choice I made. Not the company. They have no obligation to get me a hotel, dorm, food, or a couch to sleep on.
Click to expand...

I think that is the same feelings and logic used by most who commute. Not saying it's wrong, but to play devil's advocate, how about your passengers? Don't they deserve the better rested pilot who lives in base and only drives an hour or less to work? The one who is not stressed out about getting in on that low approach so he can catch his commuting flight home, maybe ducking just below minimums in the process?

Young professionals just starting out and older ones who want promotions move quite a lot in other professions. Why is it that pilots get to be different. It wasn't all that many years ago that jumpseats were not available on carriers like Delta and American. In fact, it's been less than 20 years. Back then it was virtually unheard of for regional pilots to commute and not so common for major pilots to do so. In the last 20 years this "lifestyle" choice really has gone in the wrong direction.


Typhoonpilot
 
Good luck trying to find a place to live in the greater NYC area on $22k/yr. The fact that Colgan management gets a cost-of-living override but pilots do not is evidence that the airlines expect pilots to commute from more affordable areas.
 
Plus I see it as a "employee benefit" if you will. As pilots that travel all over the country its a benefit, that is uncommon to other jobs, to live where I want to. The drawback is that I have to put up with the time and stress of getting from home to work. However, I think it's a very important benefit that should be kept.
 
This is just me thinking off of the top of my head. I live in Saint Peters MO, KSTL (lambert St. Louis International) is about a 20 minute Drive depending on traffic. Wouldent it be rational for the airline to have to pilot move to about where i live if they are based at KSTL? or do the same for other airports?
 
typhoonpilot said:
I think that is the same feelings and logic used by most who commute. Not saying it's wrong, but to play devil's advocate, how about your passengers? Don't they deserve the better rested pilot who lives in base and only drives an hour or less to work? The one who is not stressed out about getting in on that low approach so he can catch his commuting flight home, maybe ducking just below minimums in the process?

Young professionals just starting out and older ones who want promotions move quite a lot in other professions. Why is it that pilots get to be different. It wasn't all that many years ago that jumpseats were not available on carriers like Delta and American. In fact, it's been less than 20 years. Back then it was virtually unheard of for regional pilots to commute and not so common for major pilots to do so. In the last 20 years this "lifestyle" choice really has gone in the wrong direction.


Typhoonpilot
Click to expand...

I believe its all about being a professional when you do it. I commute from the west coast to the MSP. Unless its a highspeed/CDO/Stand-up/etc....I always have to commute in the night before. So i get myself a nice hotel room (that offers a free breakfast, of course!) and get just as much rest as another pilot that lives in base. I have heard of people that take in the red-eye before they start their trip. Thats just crazy.

aloft said:
Good luck trying to find a place to live in the greater NYC area on $22k/yr. The fact that Colgan management gets a cost-of-living override but pilots do not is evidence that the airlines expect pilots to commute from more affordable areas.
Click to expand...

Well, here is what you do to solve that problem. Dont take the job if you cant afford to work out of there. And by working i mean to either live there or get a hotel or crashpad there.
 
blee256 said:
Well, here is what you do to solve that problem. Dont take the job if you cant afford to work out of there. And by working i mean to either live there or get a hotel or crashpad there.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's the secret to driving wages up. Companies naturally pay as little for labor as they possibly can to keep the staffing levels where they want; it's supply and demand. Therefore, if people aren't taking the jobs because they can't put food on the table, they'll have to start paying more. The thing is, there are always more people who want the job than there are positions available, and as long as that's the case, regional pilots will never be paid more.
 
Didn't Chicago outlaw crashpads, or try to a couple of years ago?

If people cannot commute, the CBA has to be changed so that bases are not based on seniority, any forced moves (ie base closures) are paid by the company and would include any penalties (rental) or sales costs. Many people are answering like confirmed bachelors/bachelorettes who rent month-to-month, or are mainline people living in CLE, HOU, DFW, ORD, ATL -- places that won't close. Does anybody remember when RDU was an American hub or GSO was one (or planned to be one) for Continental?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top