COMMUTING TO WORK BY AIR

[CAPTAIN-C2H5OH]

Hello.

I wanted to get some feedback on pilots/engineers etc who commute to work by one of our airlines. How do you find it? Do you have any tips/suggestions?
I'm thinking of living in Brisbane and commuting down to syd/melb once a week to do two shifts with one overnight.
I know airline pilots do it, but what about people in corporate/rfds, etc type jobs as a casual?
With bn-sy being as low as $59 and an hr away it makes it feasible.
Cheers
:O

[VH-XXX]

I've done Mel - Syd for 6 months similarly to what you are proposing.

Biggest problems we had were delayed or cancelled flights and availability and prices. If something big is going on in town your $59 will quickly become $450. Can you afford to be 4 hours late to work because your plane was delayed? Parking / transport to and from the airport is also important, you need something that doesn't waste time and you'll want to avoid checking in your luggage too. Also great if you don't mind sleeping whilst flying, it can be a reasonable method of catching up on sleep.

[catseye]

did syd-meL for a year and syd - bne for a while. can be done if you have a stable shift roster allowing pre purchase of tickets when cheap. don't try it on staff travel as guaranteed you will be bumped sooner or later.

[sprocket check]

I have done more than my share of SLP for work. In hindsight, I should have bought a fast IFR single and flown myself.

The reason I didn't is I wasn't paying the airfares.

All of the previous comments apply, but if you are paying the travel, it can be unpredictable. Book as far ahead as you can, but that of course means you pay up front.

sc

[Exaviator]

After retiring from a Legacy Airline position I did a bit of contract work which required a commute from the Bay of Islands in the north of NZ to Auckland. Had my own IFR Mooney at the time and it worked out just fine, summer or winter.

Never tried it using a scheduled carrier though, just not worth the hassle!