Threshold for drivable commute
 

What's your threshold, with respect to drive time, for a long-term drivable commute and why?

Depends on what kind of trips/lifestyle you like....
If you like one day trips, then I would say 30 minutes max.
If you like 5-9 day trips, then I would say 1 hour.

Still a personal preference. Some guys/gals handle traffic better than others.

I have an easy commute, 1+10 flight time to base with upwards of 20 flights a day into base. On a good weather day with light loads I'd arrive in base one hour prior to show time (and still have a legal backup flight available that gets me in prior to show). I have to leave my house to catch my commute one hour minimum prior to scheduled departure (I can reach the gate in just under 45 minutes). So, on an absolutely perfect day, I leave my house a little over three hours prior to show. Much more typically, I leave home 4-4.5 hours prior to show. Sometimes, I'll leave as much as 5-6 hours prior if the weather sucks, there is a gap between primary/backup flights, flight loads are heavy, or I'm expecting heavy traffic en route to the airport.

The bottom line is, if you live inside of three hours drive time to base driving is almost the sure answer. Inside four hours, and it is probably still the answer on most days.

1:20 from Newark, 1:45 to Kennedy and LGA no traffic. Life’s been a breeze so far. Sit reserve at home. If you hold a line I think 3 hour drive to commute is doable, and way better than depending on flights. YMMV

I did a 5 hour drive to base for 4 years. Honestly, it was too long. I’d say I could do 3:45 no problem, but that last hour or so killed me. I was very junior doing it though, so that had a negative impact too. The hardest part vs flying is you have to be alert the whole commute vs sleeping in the back of a plane with a flying commute.

I’m in the middle of nowhere for commuting though. I’ve still gotta drive 2:40 to get on an hour block flight commute to work. I consider it much easier than the drive even though it can take more “time” than the drive sometimes.

So I guess it depends on your threshold for commuting pain.

Depends...

Depends on the kind of flying and report/end times.

I'd say four hours would be about the longest (I did five briefly once). But that's only if you're report/end times are reasonable... getting up at 2330 to hit the road at 2359 for a 0400 report for a six-leg regional day is an obvious no-go.

For a typical junior schedule, try to keep it to two hours. The early shows will still suck but you probably got a couple hours more sleep in the wee hours when you really need it.

If you're doing one-leg transcons or longer, then you can push the commute more. Time zones are going to be jacked up anyway and one leg is less fatiguing by a long-shot than 4-6.

For locals, I wouldn't drive more than about 20 minutes, but again depends on the number of legs and duty day. If you can drive in , do a turn, and drive home all in less than ten hours, still a pretty OK schedule.

Traffic matters too... four hours in stop-and-go traffic would be about the same for me as twelve hours on cruise control.

Within a reserve callout time. In my case, I drive 1hr 40min to domicile. While I’m a lineholder, it’s a nice option.

I agree that the time of report matters. I live 1 hour and 50 minutes from my driveway to the parking lot. If I have to get up before 5am, I drive in the night b4 and get a hotel room. Hasn’t happened a lot lately as I’ve transitioned to a PM schedule.

I drive 20 minutes each way, 6-8 times per month.

I would take the bus if it stopped in my neighborhood.

I hate driving.

I have a 3 hour drive to employee parking lot, FLL to MCO, and don’t mind it. If I have an early show time I get a hotel in base, but usually can get a late showtime day 1. For me it’s easier than taking the 40 minute flight and spend less time sitting around the airport for hours.