The GSP-ATL drive can be tricky as one accident pretty much closes I-85, and in several areas there’s no viable bypass. Most of the people I know who do that commute fly it.
Both the GSP and CLT commutes are pretty good as commutes go, with very early flights into ATL, and a very late flight back home. 25-35 minutes wheels up to wheels down. With the GSP-ATL commute you’ve got about 10 flights per weekday on SWA and DAL. CLT-ATL is around 20 per weekday between AAL and DAL.
As mentioned, CLT is very senior with only 2 AC types to choose from. ATL is comparatively somewhat less senior with several more AC choices, destinations.
One way to ease the pain as a GSP/CLT commuter is to bid the 717. You can overnight at home once or twice per trip with relatively little seniority (I think CLT overnights 4-6 717’s per night).
As everyone else said, living in base probably trumps most other considerations. AA also has the movement and retirement numbers.
One last point of observation: When I’m on the lake or at dinner with DAL and AA buds, it’s generally the AA guys who do the majority of the work-related complaining.
