Real Answers from Real Pilots

Commuting as a Pilot

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
#1

Good day everyone, I read the other threads relating to this but didn’t get a real clear answer. Here’s the meat and potatoes of my question. I live just outside of a major city with a fairly high volume international airport. I am currently interested in joining Envoy, Mesa, or Horizon, and have already been contacted by Mesa. Two of these airlines have connection flights to the airport near me. Would it be possible to simply start my day from here or would I need to catch a flight to a main hub to begin? Is this something the airline would work with? Does it matter that much to them? I know you are scheduled for specific flights, but that’s about as far as my knowledge goes at this point. I am starting with ATP in 10 days, but I already have a significant total hour time thanks to military aviation, so any advice would help.

THANKS!

#2

Josh,

All of your trips will start and end where you are based. For example, I am based in Newark, but commute from South Bend, Indiana. It is incumbent upon me to make sure that I get to EWR in time for my trip, this is done on my own time and any accommodations I need in my base are at my own expense. So while I may start my day in SBN, I need to be in EWR before my trip begins. If bad weather hits, flights cancel, etc, it is still my responsibility to get to EWR. The airlines are not able to work with individual pilots on this, it would just become a logistical nightmare that way.

The airlines really do not care where you live, just that you show up to work on time. My very strong recommendation would be to move to wherever you are based, you will save yourself untold amounts of time and stress versus commuting.

Chris