Airliners.net

Subject speaks for itself. Are there any airlines that have pilot bases not at a hub?

Some airlines do home basing.

VA has crew bases in AKL and CHC, and NZ has crew bases for its regional fleet in Nelson NSN, Tauranga TRG, and New Plymouth NPL

Doesn’t CX have crew in AU and NZ? Not sure if they are based, just they live their and trips start and finish there- different from commuting however as they are employed in NZ/AU. Not sure if they simply operate up and back or through Asia?

I believe CX also has a base in YVR

Tons of airlines have bases scattered around the world. ANA, Cargolux. Finnair, FedEx. Air Atlanta Icelandic just to name a few.

I can think of six "models". There may be more:
- "Basic". Crew lives and works in the same place as they are employed, which is Headquarters, e.g. London.
- Commuting. Crew works in the same place as they are employed, which is HQ, but choose to live in another location, often another country. This often requires the use of a crash pad. E.g. crew is employed in London but commutes to Milan. Every time they start work they must travel to London, and vice-versa.
- Reverse rostering. Crew technically works in the same place as they are employed, which is HQ, but the airline facilitates flight patterns that start and end in another designated location, where the crew lives. However, crew is not employed in that designated location. E.g. crew is employed in London, lives in Milan, with rosters patterns starting and ending in Milan.
- Basing. Crew lives and is employed in a different place from HQ, frequently another country. Flight patterns start and end there. E.g. HQ is in London, but crew is employed, often by a separate company, in Milan where the crewmember lives, with roster patterns starting and ending in Milan.
- Basing with "preferred port". Crew lives and is employed in a different place from HQ, frequently another country. Flight patterns (normally) start and end at the preferred port, which is not the same place where they are based, but another location convenient to them. E.g. HQ is in London, but crew is employed, often by a separate company, in Milan, with roster patterns starting and ending in Nice. Crewmember lives in or near Nice.
- Basing with commuting. Crew lives and is employed in a different place from HQ, frequently another country. Flight patterns (normally) start and end at the base and crewmember chooses to live in a third location. E.g. HQ is in London, but crew is employed, maybe by a separate company, in Milan, Crewmember lives in Rome and commutes to Milan.

smi0006 wrote:

Doesn’t CX have crew in AU and NZ? Not sure if they are based, just they live their and trips start and finish there- different from commuting however as they are employed in NZ/AU. Not sure if they simply operate up and back or through Asia?

Also bases in Europe and North America.

If they are employed in NZ/AU that would by definition mean they are based.

Also not uncommon for regionals in the US to have outstation bases. For example SkyWest has crew bases in PSP, FAT, TUS, SAN, BOI, and COS. They also have bases at the hubs for their mainline partners.

Fedex European hub is CDG but domicile is CGN

Starlionblue wrote:

I can think of six "models". There may be more:
- "Basic".
- Commuting.
- Reverse rostering.
- Basing.
- Basing with commuting.

Home basing: the employee is based at home, and taxed based on their home location. The company buys them an airline ticket to the airplane or location where they'll start, an they move with the airplane or operate from that location for a few days or weeks. When done, the company buys them an airline ticket home. Their "domicile" or "base" is their house, and they're flown with a company-bought ticket to where ever they need to be.

I just accepted a job with a company where I will have a 20 days on, 10 days off roster pattern. During the 20 working days the company can base my wherever they want (they will provide accommodation during those 20 days), but during my 10 days off I can stay at my homeplace (any major airport in Europe of my choice - the company will arrange and pay for the transport to and from this place for my 10 days off).

My first airline had 18 airplanes and 18 bases with around 120 pilots. The bases were where the airplanes overnighted and all of the trips were single day trips.

Effectively it made the flight crews responsible for finding their own lodging in their base instead of the airline providing hotels if they had based the pilots in the hub and did layovers at the outstation.

There were no bases in the hubs and virtually 95% of the pilots commuted.

The bases closed and new bases opened every month depending on whether the airline got the government contract or not so there was no guarantee of being based in the same base the following month.

In my 24 months there I was based in 18 different bases with the longest stay being 4 months in one base.

Does AC still have a pilot base in YWG? It's definitely not a hub for AC, but I seem to remember hearing they had a pilot base there for whatever reason.

Aer Lingus have pilots based in Cork outside of their hub at DUB, and also have Cabin Crew based in SNN, ORK and BHD.

Airontario wrote:

Does AC still have a pilot base in YWG? It's definitely not a hub for AC, but I seem to remember hearing they had a pilot base there for whatever reason.

The YWG A320 base remains. As late as 30 years ago, when a Government airline, the "wealth" was spread around the country and YWG was an example of that. Then, with becoming a private corporation, it was originally required due to the Air Canada Public Participation Act. That requirement no longer exists.

Over the years, it was a Lodestar, DC-3, Viscount, DC-9, 727, A320, A340 and CL-65 base. Presently, only the A320 remains. With the replacement of the A319 with the Max8 on the Atlantic (YWG was the only A320 ETOPS base), I am curious to see if it remains with the eventual retirement of the A320.

Scandinavian Airlines has bases at London Heathrow and (if it ever got started) Malaga. They do it through their SAS Ireland scam.

Air Contractors do it as well.

VSMUT wrote:

Scandinavian Airlines has bases at London Heathrow and (if it ever got started) Malaga. They do it through their SAS Ireland scam.

Air Contractors do it as well.

What about Cimber/CityJet?

zkojq wrote:

VSMUT wrote:

Scandinavian Airlines has bases at London Heathrow and (if it ever got started) Malaga. They do it through their SAS Ireland scam.

Air Contractors do it as well.

What about Cimber/CityJet?

Not sure, but I think most CRJ pilots have bases in Copenhagen or Billund.

AS closed/is closing the JFK pilot base inherited from VX

AA has a base at BOS, and just recently closed a base at STL (former TWA base). UA also still have a base in CLE. And while not technically a hub DLs NYC base covers EWR I believe. Most regionals in the US have bases that are closer to the preferred port or reverse rostering than basing. They operate bases that would normally be considered "outstations" that they have a significant operation at in addition to the hubs.