Commuting has a different meaning in the airline world than what is associated as the daily grind. Airline employees are able to use travel benefits to live in cities other than where they work or are based.

Almost any airline employee can commute by airplane. However, it is most common for pilots and flight attendants as these groups usually only go to/from work once a week.

Why Commute?

The reasons a person commutes vary widely but there are some common themes.

Airline operations are liquid. Operation locations change frequently with employees needing to relocate whenever managers get the wild hair to close or open a base.

Employees may choose to commute so they can stay in one location and avoid frequently uprooting their families. Airline managers like employees to squat too as it means the airline is off the hook for relocation costs.

Airline operations and crew bases are often located at population centers such as New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago; where it is expensive to live. Outside of the manager ranks airlines do not offer pay adjustments to help with the expensive locations. Employees choose to not live in these places so that they can afford to live with ever-decreasing paychecks.

Some employees live out of base chasing the best location for their spouse’s career. It is good to have the other career within a family to partially protect from airline volatility.

And some employees commute to live in an area they really like.

Commuting, Airline Style

There are two ways employees use free or reduced travel to get around. They can either use the travel benefits associated with their job, or some jobs may use jumpseat passes.

Travel benefits at airlines are usually space available. That is, the employee will get a seat only if there is an extra seat and enough weight allowance available after all revenue passengers and cargo are on. This is a rough and inconsistent way of getting around.

There is usually at least one jumpseat in the flight deck. And there is sometimes extra flight attendant jumpseats in the airplane cabin. Employees such as pilots, dispatchers, and mechanics can use the flight deck jumpseat. Cabin jumpseats are only available to employees of the host airline.

Airlines often have travel benefits on other carriers, though at more cost to their employees. These benefits can be used for commuting, though commuters will use reciprocal jumpseat agreements instead. Outside of pilots, reciprocal agreements are spotty and are arranged between individual airlines.