Granted, the drive to MCO from north Florida can be a nightmare in and of itself. I know a SWA guy who did it for a few years and he eventually switched bases to BWI because he said it was less stressful than the drive to MCO.

If you live in MCO, yes, but driving that from NE Florida is not the same thing. What's more stressful? Waking up routinely at 3am to make that 6am departure from MCO or commuting to NYC at 2pm, hitting the gym and then working your flight to Paris that departs at 7pm? Trip returns at 3pm two days later. Now you know why WB goes senior to NB Captain, especially for commuters!
Everybody processes different stressors differently and the drive from St Augustine to MCO on a routine basis would far outweigh any stress I'd feel from commuting, but to each his own. Sitting reserve from home is the least stressful, but I fly with pilots all the time who couldn't imagine not (thinking) they not know exactly what their trips will be for the month. Almost every month, I work way less, actually have better trips (credit>block) and don't feel a bit of stress bidding reserve. Throw in an occasional premium trip and it just sweetens the pot, with no more days worked.

That said, NE Florida does not need anymore commuters, and I know a couple of SWA pilots that have driven south to MCO for the last 20yrs, so people do it. It's just a matter of what "stresses" you out the most. I assure CYIO that his life has not been "exponentially better" than mine, unless of course he's been boning Jennifer Anniston on the side for the last 20yrs, then yes, his life is probably exponentially better!

I personally would never commute but if somebody told me I had to live in JAX and getting any CJO wasn’t an issue then that is a no brainer. Purple. They have a large number of trips that either start or end with a deadhead or both. You can switch your trip’s deadhead to start/end from JAX instead and if it cost the company less to buy the pos space ticket the extra goes in your commuter bank and vise versa. Get paid to commute stress free with pension AND DC. If you do need to commute on your own time then you can book a guaranteed JS with a hot meal on the company metal.

I’d guess 75% of us on here would go to FedEx if it was that easy..

Or if they were even planning on hiring anytime soon…

I don't think the OP has any jobs offers anyway so might as well at least consider it as another option. Although I believe they have paused hiring for a bit anyways, same with brown.

Since we're just throwing out hypotheticals without actual CJOs, why doesn't the OP just go fly for NASA at KSC?

Much easier drive and I hear the trips are decent 😉

He should just win the lottery and not have to work at all. Problem solved!

I appreciate the input from everyone. I do have CJOs at those three. Seems like the consensus is MCO either at UA, SW or an LCC. QOL is the biggest factor for me. I’m not set on flying wide body if I can have a better QOL with my family by not.

Space X has the faster upgrade, but bases definitely point towards NASA.