Your Big Decision: Commuting vs. Living In-Base For Airline Pilots

Cockpit scenes filmed with approval, in partnership with Envoy Air Inc., under Part 91... Regardless of which airline you'd love to fly for one day, you'll be faced with the decision of whether to commute or live in-base as an airline pilot. When you commute, you can live almost anywhere in the world, but have to allow yourself enough time and flight options to make it to your crew base before the start of your trip. Living in-base is ideal for most pilots but can result in extremely high living costs in large cities across the country. Here are some of the pros and cons you should know to make the most informed decision possible.

Music: Peaking Through Clouds (by Eternity Bro on PremiumBeat)
Filmed With: iPhone XS Max, GoPro Hero 7

Thanks for watching!
-Swayne Martin

[SwayneMartinPilot]

Thanks for watching guys! This decision is really complicated, so I hope you learned the basics of what you need to know. What else do you want to learn about becoming an airline pilot?

[thegroundedpilot]

The recruiters at envoy have been told by many of your fans about how helpful your videos are in demystifying a pilots life at envoy

[edwood]

A five hour commute so that you can live in GFK? Wow, I'm still tying to comprehend that. Your videos are top notch. Thanks!

[bobninemire]

Another excellent video about what it's like being an airline pilot. Thanks for the professional video and your broadcasting is spot on !!!

[jsmith]

I have been a commuter for most of my career. One of the considerations to keep in mind when deciding to move to base is the stability of the base. I have seen bases upsize and downsize, or even close completely. I have friends with Delta who moved to the Cincinnati area many years ago when it was a major hub, only to later be kicked out of the base when it downsized significantly. There are many Delta pilots who lived in the DFW area who either had to move or became commuters when Delta's major DFW hub was shut down. There are a few places where you can be relatively secure, ORD for United for example. But as unstable as mainline bases are, regional bases can be even worse. I have a friend from my first airline who had five bases close on hime at our first airline. We used to joke that he should bid for the small base where our company had its HQ because they would never close that, they had been there for decades. So ultimately he and his wife made the decision to move there. Four months after they moved, the company closed the base and decided to move the company HQ to another state.

[CWLemoine]

Good video. Glad to see Envoy being supportive. Commuting sucks, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. You did a good job laying out some of the pros and cons. I'm a commuter too, but my advice is to others is to live in base if you can. It's a totally different job when you can drive to work.

[floridaproductions]

A 777 pilot here, ORD-HKG. Keep going young man, I'm going to subscribe to your channel and watch your progress.Good luck, don't look back

[HEDGE]

Very nice video; I've never seen your stuff before, but your content is very high quality.

I'm a current Airbus Captain and have been at my airline 28 years, 18 of them commuting.

Commuting is a complete and total grind and doesn't get better as you get older (though hopefully your trips will). There's reasons to do it (mine involved taking care of my Mom) and sometimes it's just the price of doing business, but I am so happy to drive to work now.

BTW I am very impressed with the Envoy commuting arrangements, particularly the hotels. That's huge and pretty uncommon, certainly among the majors.

I wish you the best and hope you have a great career! Fly safe!

[ReneBuret]

Very well made video, I'm a 35 year major airline captain and can say the information presented in this video is spot on.

[vrezhgulyan]

I think I can speak for everyone when I say we need more of these videos, these once a month posts are killing us

[fahmijape]

Nice car upgrade compared to that one you were using in Hawai😂😂😂😂😂

[billbarton]

I lived in Grand Forks for three years...surprisingly don’t miss it.

[dryan]

You're gonna be carded until you're 50! Great video btw!

[flowerprince]

My dream to be a pilot never disappear from my mind✈😗

[jcspotter]

I personally dont get why they can't schedule your first flight to be out of your "home airport", the airline would save a ton of money

[benderandownz]

You are one of the reasons I want to fly for airlines, very good video

[kenlynch]

Commuting + busy work load + top notch editing = barley enough time for Personal Life. Thanks for all you do and all you have posted

[sonnyclimaco]

When I grow UP I wanna be a pilot as well thx.for inspiring ME

[chazflyz]

Add to the perfect commute: staying in the same timezone.

[swamuwell]

These videos are so useful! Love the channel!