Traveling to and from Omaha in the Winter... (Memphis: sales, transfer)

quin72 · 07-26-2010, 04:15 AM

Hello everyone! I am wondering if anyone could offer some advice for my wife and I. My wife started a medical residency in Omaha this past month. I am currently living out of state due to my job and the lack of job prospects in my field in NE. I have been commuting back and forth every 2-3 weeks so far. I have a great job now with a 6 figure salary and great benefits, but nothing is worth ruining a great relationship for, if the long distance thing does that to us. I am prepared to live off savings if need be, but would like to find something to do in Omaha (have already been told several times that I am over-qualified) even if it means a hefty pay cut.

Anyways, my main question is how hard is it to get through the airport in Omaha in the winter-time? Are there generally bad delays or a lot of cancellations? I have been traveling through Detroit or Minneapolis as there are no direct flights for me. I know no one can predict the future, just curious as to how the air travel has been in the past for those of you who travel often. I figure if my flights can get out of Omaha on time, I will be okay as I can connect through Houston or Memphis, where hopefully, will not hit the bad snow storms.

Thanks for the advice/answers!
quin

smithy77 · 07-26-2010, 11:54 AM

Omaha's airport is rarely the problem. I don't personally recall many non-weather related delays. The holdups are usually due to problems at the larger airports. May I ask where you live now, and what you do for a living? What is the timeline for a medical residency?

quin72 · 07-26-2010, 12:49 PM

Hi smithy, thanks for the reply. I live in NC now and work in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. The timeline for the wife's residency is 5-6 years (surgery). If I did the long distance commute, it would only be for a year or less, don't know if I could do it much longer than that, mainly just want to beef up the savings a little more in case I can't find work there.

CCJ · 07-26-2010, 03:16 PM

We have lived here about 7 weeks now and my husband travels frequently for work. It seems to be 50/50 right now on getting here or out of here on time (he is delayed in Houston as we speak). The biggest problem he has had is that if there is bad weather somewhere else and he misses a connection, he is pretty much out of luck. There are not as many flights in and out of Omaha so it really limits your ability to get here in the event of delays, especially if you have an afternoon/evening flight. It would help if the places he usually goes for work had direct flights, but that just never works out.

quin72 · 07-27-2010, 05:17 AM

Hi CCJ,

I have flown roundtrip 3 times (once earlier this year when we were looking for a place to live after my wife was accepted into residency there). So far, I have only had 1 flight delayed and 1 cancellation (in Detroit). I am flying out again next week, so we'll see what that brings. I can deal with the delays but cancellations are not too fun. I do believe that early morning flights are probably the best. When I arrived in Detroit, it was late in the afternoon and no more flights were leaving for Omaha that day (of course i just missed the connection to Minneapolis where I could have caught another plane to Omaha).

Oh well, guess we'll see what the future holds. As of now, not really finding any promising job prospects for myself. Seems like everyone my wife meets that is doing a residency there either has lived apart from their significant other for some time, is living apart from their significant other, or has a spouse that works at the hospital (nurse, pharmacist,etc).

Best of luck to you and your husband!

smithy77 · 07-29-2010, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quin72

Hi smithy, thanks for the reply. I live in NC now and work in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. The timeline for the wife's residency is 5-6 years (surgery). If I did the long distance commute, it would only be for a year or less, don't know if I could do it much longer than that, mainly just want to beef up the savings a little more in case I can't find work there.

I don't envy your dilemma, especially considering the fact that Omaha isn't a magnet for biotech. If you're in sales or management, you might be able to transfer your skills to another industry. Good luck.