Crew who commute across a border to fly: the Swiss, the Irish, the Mexicans and the maths of living in a cheaper country
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#1 easyJet Geneva, and I live in France. A good chunk of the Geneva base does: the flat is in Annemasse or Ferney, the salary is Swiss, the rent is French, and the border is a tram stop. That arrangement has a name here (frontalier) and a set of complications, and I know versions of it exist at other bases, so let us compare.
How it works for us
A Swiss employment contract, Swiss pay in francs, and residence in France. Tax is handled by a cross border agreement that is, honestly, a headache the first year and then a form. Health insurance has to be chosen carefully between the two systems. The commute is 25 minutes on a good day and the airport is on the border itself, which is the joke: Geneva airport has a French sector and a Swiss sector and the crew car park is on the Swiss side.
The maths
A Swiss salary and a French rent is a real difference. A one bedroom in Geneva versus the same in Annemasse is roughly double. Groceries are cheaper in France. Childcare is cheaper in France. That is why most of the crew with families live across the line.
The costs
The border can have queues at sign on time. The tax agreement changes and the crew Facebook group has a permanent argument about it. Two health systems, two sets of paperwork. And a slight sense of living in neither country properly.
Other versions I know about
Dublin crew who live in Northern Ireland and commute down. San Diego crew who live in Tijuana. Basel is the same as Geneva with three countries. Copenhagen crew in Malmö over the bridge. Luxembourg is entirely built on this.
Who else does it, what is your arrangement, and is the maths still working?
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#2 Copenhagen base, live in Malmö, Sweden. The bridge is 35 minutes and the flat is 40 percent cheaper. Danish pay, Swedish rent. The tax is a specific Øresund agreement and it is fine once you understand it. Half my base does it.
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#3 Mexico City so not a border, but I know the Tijuana crews at the US carriers and it is exactly that: US pay in dollars, Mexican rent in pesos, and the pedestrian border crossing at 4am with a crew bag. The maths there is dramatic.
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#4 Vienna, and there are crew who live in Bratislava, which is 50 minutes by bus and less than half the rent. Austrian pay, Slovak rent. It works until you have a 4am sign on and the bus does not run.
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#5 Dublin, and I know three crew who commute from Newry and one from Belfast. UK rent, euro salary, and the currency swing changes their effective pay every month. When the euro is strong they are happy.
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#6 @georgedub the currency swing is the part the Geneva crews watch as well. Franc up, everyone across the border is smiling. Franc down, the Facebook group is quiet.
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#7 Basel, three countries in one airport, and the crew live in all three. The German side is cheapest, the Swiss side pays, the French side has the food. The car park is in France. Nobody fully understands the tax and everyone has an accountant.