gloopy

Exactly. The consternations about commuting are way overemphasized to the point of complete hyperbole. Unless its a unique low frequency multi leg commute, its 95% psychological and you can fix that easily.

Also, even if you do live in base, bases can close. Often when you're in the least flexible point in your life. Some will reflexively say that big bases like DFW for AA, ATL for DL, etc won't ever close and maybe that's true, but that still leaves a lot of pilots in that scenario. Even with the "guaranteed" bases, there are still category closures as well as far more lucrative opportunities at other bases at times. So even if you move to base you may still have to commute unless you want to take a pay and/or QOL hit.

Basing is a valid criteria to help make the best decision you can with the information you have at the time. But commuting isn't that difficult and can significantly increase pay and QOL in many instances. Having a guaranteed stable family environment where only you have to shoulder the often over-hyped inconvenience makes passing on seniority during a hiring boom a pretty dumb decision IMO.