Commuting by plane

[user1471519931]

Hi, thanks to current circumstances it is looking very likely that HQ will close the office in my city and offer to transfer us to another city... the thing is that I really don't want to move - love where we live and have family close by etc... I'm wondering whether I could commute for a couple of days and then WFH for the rest of the week...? Commuting would mean flying 1 hour. Does anyone else do this? Is it as awful as I'm imagining? My kids are young - primary school.

I have colleagues who do this, one works four long days and then flies home (Barcelona) on Thursday evening and flies back into London on Monday morning.

Thanks for your reply... Yes, I would try to negotiate fewer days in the office than that initially...I can imagine that the salaries in London would give you a great standard of living in Barcelona. 👍

dh did that for some time.
bear in mind that one hour flight possibly means 5 hours travel twice a week.
it was doable but very hard work for either of us.
if there was no end to it, I wouldn't recommend it.

I think you really need to think of the environmental impact of doing that. No one needs to fly every week.

yep, check for alternative travel. (overnight) train or ferries can be similar timewise to plane travel if you count in getting to the airport, check-in, passport control etc.

Good point about the environment. I will take that into consideration.

Yes 5 hours lost ... 🤔

Sort of done it in the past..I know people who still do it but they arrange work to be away for several days at a time..so I take it you are thinking of flight from home >perhaps 2/3 days work ?>flight back?, i.e;.not commute both ways every office day?

Random thoughts:

1. How you going to get to/from work if the flights don't operate for whatever reason ( Covid, weather, airline goes broke..you need a back up route/plan).

1. How do flight schedules fit in with working hours - for instance can you get home in the evening post work finishing and are you going to have to overnight in a hotel post work before getting home, and/or travel up night before starting work..that can seriously eat into your time at home.. Remember flight schedules can change seasonally, some routes get cut over winter..

1. You say it's a one hour flight but what's the timescale door to door once you've added buffers for car parking, security, minimum check-in time? That one hour flight can easily become several hours door to door.

I did this on and off (pre-kids), the company had an office where I live but depending on the project I worked on I would have to travel for back to back weeks. Even with an end in sight it was hard going. Monday is a daze with getting the first flight and then working all day (or eating into my weekend even more by flying out Sunday, which meant being at the airport just after lunch) and Friday I wasn’t home until 8/9pm, absolutely exhausted after the dash from office to train to airport, running late and stressing. I always felt a bit run down and sick, too much eating out and not enough routine.
Now I travel only a few times a year and it is fine as it is a novelty (probably won’t go at all post-Covid), and as it is occasional work are more accommodating either side of the trip. DH travels every couple of months now for 1-2 week stretches, it is fine but it takes a lot of coordinating on my part about what to do with the children/work/pickups/etc as it all falls on me when he is away, and I’ve had a manic dash from my own important meeting to daycare in time and then sorting them out in the evening by myself.
If you’re only doing it a couple of days a week it might be easier, but you’d need to factor in what would happen if your flight was cancelled/it snows/etc and you’re stuck either at work or at home.
It certainly is reasonably common, I saw a lot of familiar faces each week at the airport.

Thanks a lot for your reply above - really appreciate the frankness. Yes I get that it will be tough going...and not easy for the one staying at home with the kids. Good point about lack of routine and stress of rushing about... Will need to give this some more thought.

I've done this on and off (depending on the project I'm working on) for many years. Initially it's a bit stressful but I was surprised how quickly I got into the swing of things.

I had to leave home VERY early to catch the 1st flight which made it a long day that day, but made sure to leave the office by 3:30 the day I came home to ensure I was home early enough to do DC bath etc.

It actually worked really well - but you'll definitely need to be very organised and plan ahead with knowing what events will cause hotels to be booked up/prices ludicrously high, flights unavailable etc. Also, be prepared to accept that occasionally adverse weather causes cancellations or huge delays and there's nothing you can do about it.

I quite enjoy staying away on my own which makes me feel slightly guilty, but I make sure I do morning/evening calls with DC/DH so there's plenty of contact.

It actually worked really well - but you'll definitely need to be very organised and plan ahead with knowing what events will cause hotels to be booked up/prices ludicrously high, flights unavailable etc. Also, be prepared to accept that occasionally adverse weather causes cancellations or huge delays and there's nothing you can do about it

Yep, I know people who work on major construction/engineering projects and also in the transport industry who do exactly as you describe..."commuting" as described can certainly be better for the family overall than forcing them to up sticks and move every few years as the base/work location changes.

As you rightly say though you really need to have your "ducks in a row" when it comes to planning and having an awareness of back up options.

Morning all....so it's looking increasingly likely that this will take affect from 1 January....so a few more months of anxiety... 😅

I will commute to Dublin in the end. Has anyone got any experience of this? I plan on taking just a carry on for the plane...so clothes that I can easily fold etc. It will take quite a bit of planning.

I guess I will take a cheap hotel...any recommendations?

I have a 2 and a 4 year old. Any advice on how to explain it to them?