I used to commute from Hartford to Albany for an old commuter airline job, which was about a two hour drive, and it was fine. At four hours, I might commute by air if the schedules permitted, but only you can make that call.


I commuted for my first six months at Southwest. Honestly, there wasn't really any stress with it. We have a commuter policy that, in a nutshell, won't get you in trouble if you aren't able to get on your commuter flight(s).

The big issue for me was the amount of time I lost by commuting. Most of Southwest's trips either start super early in the morning (so you have to come the night before), or end late enough that there aren't any flights home by the time you get back to your base. So either way, you're staying the night away from home, on your own dime.

Here's a real world example: I fly "PM" (afternoon/evening) trips. My show time for the trip I'm on right now was 12:45pm. If I had to commute, the only flight that gets me in before 11:45am (required to protect me under our commuter policy) leaves home at 6:10am, arriving at my base at 8:40am.

Realistically, that means I would have to leave my house at 4:30am to get parked, get to the gate, check in for the jumpseat, commute, then sit around for four hours until my check-in time.

Now to the end of the trip. I get to my base at 6:50pm this evening. The last flight on us back to my former home leaves at 3:40pm. The only other option to get home leaves at 7:15, has a 3-hour layover in LAX, and is in another terminal. If by some miracle I got in early enough to make it, it lands at 2:34am. Realistically, I'm spending another night at my base and taking the first one out in Sunday morning, which leaves at 9:50am and lands at home at 12:30pm.

So as a local, this 3-day trip has me leaves the house at noon, and be back in my living room by around 7:30. 55.5 hours away from my house.

As a commuter, that same 3-day trip would have me leave my house at 4:30am, and get home at 1:30pm on day 4. That's 81 hours away, plus the cost of a hotel or crashpad.

This is kind of an edge case because 12:45 is a pretty early report for a PM trip. I've had many that report after dinner, and those would at least make the day 1 commute more palatable and give you a few more hours at home. Still, very few of our trips allow a commute at the other end of the trip. The same trip structure that makes our trips great for people that live in base makes them difficult for people that commute.

It's workable, but plan on losing 3-4 days of your life per month for the commute. If you're going by car as you're suggesting, that gives you the option of traveling the same day that an air commuter wouldn't have, but also consider whether you'll be safe for four hours on the road after working all day and landing at 1am. I know I wouldn't be.