With foreclosures on the rise and for-sale signs all over neighborhoods, owners across the country are struggling to find ways to meet their payments and stay in their homes. One possible solution is to open your doors to airline employees looking for what is known in the industry as a "crashpad."
Despite a relatively low profile, crashpads are not a new idea and are nearly as old as the airlines themselves. Pilots, flight attendants and other airline employees may live in one city but fly out of another one, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Often this gap between home and base is the result of employees' shifting schedules or changing to a different airline. Others find their base city to be too expensive to live in.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 29 words Type of Material: Correction
Crashpads: An article in the Real Estate section on Sunday about temporary housing for airline personnel said Hawaiian Airlines called it quits this year. Aloha Airlines has ceased operations.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, May 11, 2008 Home Edition Real Estate Part K Page 7 Features Desk 1 inches; 26 words Type of Material: Correction
Crashpads: A May 4 article on temporary housing for airline personnel incorrectly stated that Hawaiian Airlines called it quits this year. Aloha Airlines has ceased operations.
Although employees' benefits allow for free or cheap commutes by air, schedules don't always offer much flexibility -- 6 a.m. flights and sporadic on-call schedules can make lodging in surrounding airport neighborhoods a necessity.
When crew members live in one state but travel to another for work, the airlines are not required to pay for their accommodations. Flight crews are offered complimentary hotel rooms only when en route or on a layover.
In the Los Angeles area, crashpads can charge around $250 to $350 a month per bed, sometimes more if a private room is offered.
This system allows crews to keep their living costs down and gives homeowner-landlords more opportunity for income. Rooms are usually set up to sleep two, four or even six and are often fitted with bunk beds.
With Hawaiian, Skybus and ATA all calling it quits this year, airline personnel are feeling the strain of budget cuts and worries about job security. And although some may consider a hotel to be a more comfortable solution than bunking with strangers, a crashpad is a bargain, considering that the cost of a hotel room ranges from about $100 to $150 a night near LAX.
Crashpad layouts vary with the property and may be a spare room in someone's home or an entire house devoted to airline renters. The least desirable kind of crashpad among crew members is one that offers only a bed for the night.
Instead, many crew members look for crashpads that have kitchen privileges, Wi-Fi, nearby restaurants or a grocery store, laundry and, of course, close proximity or convenient transportation to the airport. Sleeping arrangements are usually same sex and same profession: Pilots tend to bunk with other pilots and flight attendants with other flight attendants.
