Does An Airline Pilot's Flights Have To Start From The Pilot's Assigned Hub?
Lets Say That A Pilot Lives In Orlando, Florida. And That Pilot Applies For An Airline Based Out Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But That Pilot Lives In Orlando, Florida. Would That Pilot's Flights Have To Originate Out Of Milwaukee, Or Could That Pilot Start His Flights Out Of Orlando To Milwaukee, Than So On? Or Would That Pilot Have To Move To Milwaukee And Start All Of His Flights Out Of Milwaukee, Than Back To Milwaukee?
Air Travel - 2 Answers
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1 :
Technically the point of being based in a city is to operate out of it. It just wouldn't work if every pilot tried to start out of their home city. Many pilots do commute to their hub. I had a friend who operated out of Cincinnati, but lived in a small city in Texas. He would fly to Dallas and up to Cincinnati when he was scheduled to fly.
2 :
I would venture that 6 or 7 out of 10 pilots live in a different city than they are based out of. They commute back and forth by using an agreement that airlines have with each other to help pilots make the trip, this is called jumpseating. If there are extra seats on the flight, the pilot will ride in the cabin. If not, the pilot will ride on an extra seat in the cockpit called the jump seat. We can do this because as pilots, we all endure special security screening that other employees in the company do not. Pilots commute for a variety of reasons. One would be starting with a different airline that is based in another city. If an airline has several hubs, as your seniority increases, you can bid to transfer to another hub city. This may be for an easier commute, to be closer to home, or because of better schedules available out of that hub city. Another reason can be promotion to captain, or upgrading. This causes a pilot to go from the top of the first officer seniority list to the bottom of the captain list. This may mean the pilot has to transfer to a more junior hub city to fly as a captain. Things change so quickly that it is difficult to list every possible scenario. Some pilots choose to move rather than commute, because it adds stress and can eat into your days off if you miss flights or have to leave home early.
