LifetimeCFI

Plan to rent an apartment in San Juan/Carolina for at least 1-1.5 years. Might eye a move to Miami if I get tired of the island life, especially on year 2 pay.. But honestly if the life is going well down at San Juan, I'll probably hang out there for a while. I don't really want to commute.

Super excited, just gotta hope my class date sticks. Things seem more optimistic the last two weeks. Allegedly we'll know within the next 14 days.

edit: you mean buy a house and set up a crash pad for future FOs? That might not be a terrible idea, although I'm nowhere close to being in a position to own a home lol.

ContinRepChime

You truly are a savior.

spooldup

Hopefully there are 90 more like him so no one has to get displaced... That being said, if I was single and young, I would definitely go down there for a little. I have friends at cape air that are living it up down there together and love it.

Stayontarget

We made it to the largest size our airline seniority list has ever been then promptly lost 6 people according to Flica numbers this morning. Haha. May their careers be stellar.

HSCompressor

Well all the displacements sure ain’t helping. Wait till 90 pilots find themselves in San Juan.

It’ll be interesting if San Juan is our Jr base how new hires take to it.

Aero1900

If SJU isn't our junior domicile I'll be shocked

HSCompressor

There’s Jr. And then there’s “Jr.” If you know what I mean. (Read: I’ll quit if I’m awarded SJU, can’t get anyone to stay there, every new hire gets it then leaves, no one takes the upgrade, etc.)

LifetimeCFI

so, there's def a small number of folks like myself out there. F9 opening the base has sparked interest in future aviators, too. I think you'll see 75+% folks dip out asap - commute for the 1-4 months they're stuck there, and then bail for whatever base they can hold.

There will probably be a small subset of young folks, or native PR folks, who will be more than happy with being out there for as long as we are.. and by that I mean they might not leave for anything. Miami is far more expensive in comparison. I've pretty much mentally committed to doing the island life for a few years. Maybe 3 years down I might trek out to Miami. If it's still a base by then..

Super excited. Really hoping my Spanish picks up lol.

HSCompressor

I think it def will attract people. I think you’re absolutely right about that. I think at first it’s going to be seen as unpalatable.

Keep in mind it’s at least a 2.0hr commute from MCO and MIA. And most are coming from further. It’s prob going to be a double leg commute for most. The next issue is crash pads and hotels and transportation. Again, I’m no expert at all things TJSJ, but if you’re doing mostly day trips or sitting reserve you really have to figure those things out. Financially, those things start to add up. And seeing as to how it’s “island life” it prob not cheap either. And F9 pilots ain’t the biggest earners either. And remember it’s not NYC with 3 airports for the past 90 years. There’s a pilot presence, but how big is that pilot infrastructure.

I think eventually people will move and settle and come here for San Juan and once the word gets out about good setups out there, more people will find interest in it.

spooldup

I am still hoping our union fights for better requirements on moving expenses and stuff if displaced.

Buying your house, paying for your stuff to be moved, etc.

There should be language in our contract that will make them think twice about displacing pilots to these locations and they would try to avoid displacements at all possible.

I am not a commuter, but I would hope we get something or the union fights for something that will allow commuters in these scenarios to get hotels paid for by the company or some sort of monthly stipend. IE- you get displaced to SJU from PHL, ATL, DEN, whatever it may be, and you get 10 paid hotels each month if you still have an address and house/commute. The company could also just reimburse you for a % of your hotel costs if this is the case. But as it stands right now, the fact they can just shrink bases and open them willy nilly is a huge issue and will screw over a lot of people.

With the amount of money and hotels they will save with 90% day trips, I don't see why giving the commuters at this company a reimbursement for their troubles, especially if getting displaced.

Yeah I know you could buy a house instead of commute, but who is to say they won't close the base in the near future with little notice?