“Flying” vs Flying!
A couple months ago I flew my small Cessna 172 to Austin. It was a two-day trip each way. I few between 2000 ft and 9500 ft in altitude, and did two or three legs in a day. Each leg required a landing and a fueling. My speed was about 100 kts.
Yesterday, my wife and I flew to Austin TX on a commercial airline. We got here in less than one full day, with two legs. We flew at 24,000 - 36,000 feet altitude, and went about four times faster than my plane can go.
Basically, the difference can be summed up by saying that commercial travel is faster, and easier in that it is less limited by weather and is larger and more capable but is more limiting in choices of destination and timing. Flying myself is much less limited in my choices of route and time. But, is more subject to weather and speed issues.
Once you factor in the drive to the commercial airport, the two-hour security time allotment, time to check your bags at one end and get them at the other then my little slow plane can be effectively faster over some distances! And when I fly, I don’t have to go through security nonsense and I can carry a pocketknife and water bottle too.
If I have to make a fuel stop that blows my time margin. Therefore any distance under 300-400 miles can be flown faster end-to-end in my plane than commercially. Add that to the flexibility and it’s a winner many times. (That distance would vary with the type of plane.)
But, longer flights or flights with weather or time constraints are best commercially.