I am looking into cadet/flow programs and was curious about flying for Envoy/American Airlines and was wondering if anyone here is a commuter from NYC area to Chicago. Is that a tough commute? I know commuting is inherently tougher than living in base, just wondering how competitive or realistic that commute may be.
Thanks in advance.
Zachary,
Those are two massive cities with lots of daily flights, so that’s a plus. However, the trade off for all those options, full flights with lots of other commuters. If the airline is your priority, try commuting with a crash pad. If that doesn’t work you can entertain the idea of moving.
I commute from Charlotte to Chicago. American has a hub in both Charlotte and Chicago and United a hub in Chicago. That means a flight almost every hour between the two airlines from 6a-10pm. I typically have better luck on United. Since Charlotte is a senior base, there are a lot of AA employees that are commuting to the junior base of Chicago while waiting to be able to hold the Charlotte base.
Hannah
Zachary,
As Hannah said, commuting is never easy and hub to hub is the worst. Also take into account both ORD and NY are infamous for harsh winters which doesn’t help.
The good news is AA has a NY base so you wouldn’t be commuting forever.
Adam
Zachary,
I often fly ORD-EWR (or vice-versa) and rarely have a jump seater. I have actually not seen many pilots making that commute, but my evidence is anecdotal at best. If you have to commute for a few years, that is one thing, but I would really try to do everything possible to avoid being a lifetime commuter.
Chris