PreFlight

Welcome to the Rotate Newsletter. This newsletter is meant to provide insight to the aspiring aviator who wishes to join the commercial airline industry. This newsletter will provide the reader with the advantages and disadvantages of each airline and help determine the best airline suited for the needs of you and your family. Each airline has subtle differences in their contracts that make large impacts on a pilot’s career and job satisfaction. Commuting to work can be a blessing to many pilots. Pilots can choose to live outside of their base location and enjoy a slower lifestyle away from big cities like Atlanta. This can provide many peaks to a commuter as far as cost of living, family ties, or getting that view you have always wanted. These are great reasons to commute; however, it does come at a cost.

The Cost

The largest cost of commuting is time. This varies depending on the base location, the number of trips that are commutable, seniority, and where you live. A junior pilot with a two leg commute has a very different commuter lifestyle than a senior pilot based in Atlanta, who lives in Charleston. The more legs (connection flights) it takes to get to base, the more time a pilot has to spend away from home unpaid. In case you weren’t aware, the commute is on the pilot’s time and dime. The dime being crashpads and hotels. More to follow on that in a bit.

Commutable rotations vary from base to base. A rotation is either commutable for the start, end, or both sides of the trip. Commutable, meaning you are able to travel to the start or end of the trip on the same day. Delta’s commute policy states, “A commuting pilot is expected to arrive at their base with sufficient time and with adequate rest prior to beginning scheduled duty.” To meet this requirement as a commuter, the pilot must attempt to travel on at least two flights that have adequate seat availability 24 hours prior. The primary and backup flights must have two hours in-between them. If these conditions are met and the pilot still can not get to base in time, crew scheduling can deadhead the pilot to base without paying for the deadhead. That sounds fine. Two attempts, and then you are put on the jet to get to work. However, this means if you have a report at 0800 you have to plan to arrive the night before. Thus, the trip is not commutable on the front side. The pilot can take a risk and jump on the earliest flight out in hopes of arriving prior to that departure. This is a risk not protected by the commuter policy. The 18 hour long call helps with the ability to commute as it allows more time to commute. A short call requires that the pilot be in place, so commuters must come to work on SC. This is why reserve life is not desirable for commuters.

Each category (base and type) has different commutability. For example, in June, 64% of the trips on the A330 based in NYC are commutable on both ends, with 100% commutable starts. This means that over half of the category can expect to be able to commute on both ends of their rotations. By comparison, on the B737, only 5% of the trips are commutable on both ends in the same month. This is where the crashpad cost comes in. Most narrow body pilots will have a crashpad at the NYC base. The only way to mitigate these costs is to either be more senior in category, move categories, or move bases. These options are fewer for junior pilots and may not be desirable for senior pilots. Crashpads are not the end of the world and are typically cheaper than a hotel. Just another expense to consider if you do not live in base.

Lifestyle

Commuting pilot work lifestyles look very different from those of in-base pilots. Most commuters have a rigid way of bidding that awards them commutable trips, resulting in fewer days away from home. Another technique is to bid for longer trips or back-to-back trips, as this decreases the number of required commutes. Another desire of the commuter is to be a lineholder. Holding a line increases schedule predictability and does not require short call periods. Pilots that commute often delay upgrade decisions to ensure a higher quality of life, as their seniority in the category is often higher as a first officer. Greenslips are also more challenging for commuters, as they often do not live close, and last-minute trips are not a simple drive to work. Overall, flexibility as a commuter is just less.

Brake Set

Commuting is a challenge for every airline. This is one factor that could possibly influence your decision to work at one airline over another. Living in Colorado makes absolute sense for United pilots, while creating many challenges for Delta pilots. The saying goes that commuting is a choice, and it absolutely is. Different locations and different categories can greatly affect the challenges associated. Careful consideration should be taken when selecting your dream homestead and airline of choice. This wraps up the newsletter’s series on Delta Air Lines, next up is United Airlines.