Do airline pilots get to go home every night?

us_airforce4life: Do airline pilots get to go home every night?
Do commercial airline pilots get to go home every night. Or do they have to stay in other cities for a while before returning home? Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Charles M
If you have a 4 day trip on your hand, you’re gonna be staying where you just landed.

Answer by PLYMOUTH DUSTYA
im pretty sure they stay in other cities

Answer by Don C
Airline pilots have a maximum number of hours they can fly in a 24 hour day. FAA regulations state that the pilot must not exceed the time limit set for the pilot inorder to prevent fatigue and lack of sleep. So ya, they get to rest at a hotel in that city or if they are at their home city. They just cannot exceed a certain time and must rest. You wouldn’t a pilot falling asleep at the wheel eh?

Answer by Tim A
NO

Answer by Frank Y
They usually have to stay at the city they land, depending on the time. But pilots usually have their set route itinerary, so it’s not like they will always stay in a new city. Let’s say you pilot the New York to LA flight, you’ll stay in New York, or LA, depending on when your last flight lands.

Answer by Joseph V
stay in a hotel if far away i’m guessing…

Answer by crosejr15
no they don’t go home every night..
they get free stays at certain hotels near the airport till their next flight where ever that maybe until they go home

Answer by fitman
No.

Answer by Nicolas C
No because they are away half a month so you live out of you suite case alot. But if you love the job than you will love to see all the other states and countries that you would have never seen before.

Answer by grumpy geezer
If you can bid a schedule of out and backs the same day, yes you will get home every night. Those trips are not that rare, but the vast majority of guys will be doing multi day trips. Out and backs go pretty senior when they pop up in the schedule.

Answer by Kainoa
They are only allowed to fly so many hours. They may need to stay over night and then fly out again the next day.

Answer by redrosefading
No, they have lay-overs in other cities. How would a pilot fly overseas and be home the same night. They have scheduled flights with so many hours down time between the next flight. If the down time falls at their home base, then they r home those days/hrs.

Answer by laptopgamingdude
No they spend a lot of time in hotels and long range aircraft you can be gone for weeks at a time. It is great if you are single, but it sucks if you have a family.

Answer by Private_Jet_Charter
It depends on the route that they are flying…… if they have a long route then more then likely the will be sleeping somewhere else. If they get a short route (i.e. a Boston to NYC) they will be home at night.

Answer by IFlyGuy
It all depends on how long you have been with the airline and what type of schedule you want. We have 1, 2, 3, and 4 day trips at my airline. Obviously, the people who get the 1 day trips are home at night. The people who get the multiple day trips stay at a hotel until the last day when they will end up at home. I am currently on a 4 day trip and am in the hotel in Scranton, PA. Last night I was in the hotel in Houston, TX and the night before that I was in Grand Rapids, MI. Tomorrow night I will be at home. Then I have one day off and start another 4 day trip after that.

Answer by Bob C
My father retired from the airlines. There is a lot to take into consideration in this question. We lived in Virginia and his base of operations was in Chicago. Airline pilots bid on schedules each month. Typical schedules have anywhere from “3 day trips” on up. If you live near your base of operations and fly shuttle flights back and forth between that city and another, then you can probably be home every night. If you take longer trips or several hops to different locations you will probably stay overnight in another city. My father would take a jump seat on a company plane from D.C. to Chicago the day before his rotation started. He had an apartment there. During his trip he could be anywhere depending on what line on the schedule he successfully bid. The good thing is he usually had anywhere from 5 to 10 days between trips each month so he got to spend lots of time at home.

Answer by Andrew L
Most airlines require you to layover in other cities. But there are some that do not. Some of the smaller regional airlines in the U.S. have all of their bases at the outstations (as opposed to the hubs) and the trips are all day trips. In other words crews are back at their base every night – if you live in base you are home. They do this to save on hotel costs, but it limits their flexibility with the crews.

New start-up Skybus in Columbus, Ohio does all day trips as does USA 3000 airlines. Some of the major airlines do have some schedules that allow some crews to be home every night as well, but that is the exception, not the rule.

In short as a general rule you will be in hotels while on trips, but their are a few airlines where you can be home every night.