Hello. I know many pilots commute to their base, however I was wondering if pilots ever have layovers in their home city (city that they commute from).
For example, a United Airlines Pilot commutes from St. Louis to Dulles. He takes a day trip from Dulles and some how ends up in St. Louis for the night. Instead of staying in a hotel in St. Louis, could he spend the night at home?
Nathan,
Sure they do. In fact many pilots bid for the trips that get them home just for that reason. I’m with Hawaiian and I have a friend who commutes from LA. He strictly bids for LA overnights so he can spend more time with the family. Only caveat is you need to have the seniority to get the trips you want.
Adam
Laying over in your home town is a mixed bag, good and bad. The good is being home while on the clock, kind of like free money. ;). The bad is you may not be as rested for your duty when you have to get back to work and you carry the weight of anything going wrong getting back and forth to the airport. If you have long layovers, say 24 hours plus and live a reasonable distance, it would be great. Short rest layovers, I’d avoid the temptation to go home or bid my home city. Just my 2 cents.