Ya, I was traveling a high level for 5 years starting in the late 80’s out of Houston. 50k miles per year. I could arrive at an airport on hour before departure, check an equipment chest into air freight, check a bag, clear security and make it to the plane with no running.
After 9/11, it got slooooooow and sometimes weird in the airport. Got so fed up with how long everything took both at the departure and arrival end that I started driving lots. My benchmark was 8 hours, If I could drive anywhere in 8 hours, I do that instead of fly. The travel time point to point was close enough to the same that I took to the road instead of dealing with the irritations of flying.
About 8 years ago, I had a chance for a head to head comparison of flying vs. driving. I drove Atlanta to Jacksonville and later in the day met up with my boss who flew ATL to JAX. We did our several days work in JAX then about 90 minutes before his flight I dropped him off at the airport while I hit the road back to ATL. We both lived about 45 miles north of ATL airport and he arrived home about 15 minutes ahead of me for my ca. 6 hour drive. If he had not been heading into the hometown with a personal car in parking and instead had messed with a rental car instead, I would have easily beat him on travel time.
The reality is that you gave him a head start. Had he had to drop off a rent a car in Jacksonville it would have taken 20 minutes longer. But because you were there he got a ride right to the terminal without dealing with a drop off, and a bus ride to the terminal.