Poll of a sort

[skyrocketocelot]

I understand that as low man on the airline totem pole, domiciling is a touchy subject... So I've been wondering:

1. How long did your DH have to rapidly and continuously change domiciles?

2. How much and how did seniority play into his being able to settle in one place for awhile?

3. And when (if ever) does commuting become a viable option? (I've heard it will take many years for that to happen)...

Thanks in advance, ladies! I appreciate your thoughts

[Tambralyn]

I don't know how typical our experience is. John was based in ORD right out of training and has been since then. He commutes from ORD to STL. We live about an hour and a half outside of St. Louis, so his commute can be challenging, but he almost always makes it home on the last day of his trip, unless he gets in after the last flight from ORD to STL leaves.

We don't see any reason his domicile should change any time soon, unless he wants it to, or unless he gets promoted to Captain.

So...just like every thing else in this industry, I think it depends on the airline.

[Kristie]

it is definitely airline dependent.

When doug was working for Skyway, he was constantly changing domiciles...going from MKE to Flint to Marquette and back, all within a 1.5 year stint and it's because that's where the airline *needed* him. he never really stayed at those domociles long and they put him up in hotel vs moving him but it was quite interesting.

We've been through two domocile closings with Delta and they were MCO (737 aircraft cancelled) and DFW (full base closure)...doug's switched bases 5 times now...he was orig based in ATL (we lived in MCO), stayed there till seniority got better in MCO, Flew MCO for a while, then when MCO closed, he went back to ATL, flew there for a while till we moved to phx and seniority at DFW got better, moved to DFW, stayed in DFW till closing and moved to SLC...now, with his seniority a lot better, he's going to JFK and a full aircraft change. that's 8 yrs at DAL

Seniority plays a part in EVERYTHING..what bases you *can* fly out of, where the senior bases are, what your schedules will be like AT a particular base (that can really make a difference too!!). if your not moving up fast enough, you'll sit long enough in a bad situation so you wanna make sure DH/DF gets into a job where people are *moving*. not so much to switch seats, get PIC time etc but to make sure you can be based where you want, when you want and so you can get effective schedules that won't send your family packing because your never home.

Commuting becomes a viable option if the cost of living at a base gets too high or too far to drive...Commuting works especially good when you decide WHERE you want to live and if your job is more stable than DH's - that makes all the difference in the world to leading a happy and financially stable aviation life.

HTH

[roz]

And some airlines don't have a lot of bases, so there's not much of a choice. You commute to one or the other or live there. But, as Kristie says, seniority is everything in terms of bidding. DH now has a crash pad. Prior to that he was doing really inexpensive hotel stays. Those two make a difference in how you bid. If you have a crash pad, number of nights in base is not quite as important. But, being able to be home when you're off is most important. So, they figure it out. And QOL is also impacted by the cost of living at a base. It's so much more expensive to live in DC or NYC for everything--you need a 20% raise to make up the difference (spoken from someone who grew up in NYC).

[skyrocketocelot]

Wow. That gives me a much clearer view of how things might end up going. He's just in regionals now, I'm guessing things could easily be much more wacky with them... especially since it's a Mesa subsidiary. Bleh.

Thanks! I'm not sure if I feel more "hopeful" but I feel more knowledgable

[Kristie]

with knowledge, comes confidence!

[Amanda]

At Mesa Nick went from Reading, PA, then moved to Hobbs, NM, then Phila, PA, then Phoenix (yay!), then D.C (IAD- Dulles). Of course I think I may have missed some...

I NEVER followed him during that time since it didn't make sense for me to start over with my job. Now that he is with CAL I made the decision to move back to the East Coast.