Looking at Kev31's post I don't see that he wants to commute by private plane.
So it is a reasonable question to ask how long things take.
Most flights within the UK are going to be 1-2hrs, and significantly longer than that is a problem in the common GA spamcans anyway because their range (to fuel exhaustion) is generally 3-5hrs.
It is true that a lot of the flights that PPL pilots do could be done by car in similar time, but there are some spectacular exceptions e.g. Lydd to Welshpool which can be flown in 1.5-2.5hrs (depending on the plane) but would take 8-12hrs to drive.
But, speaking of utility, the main limiting factors on getting utility out of flying, for flying within the UK, are
- lack of instrument approaches
- airport opening hours
- HUGE costs at most H24 airports (£500 at Gatwick, Luton, etc)
- transport at the far end
- aircraft availability unless you own it outright, or are in an amicable syndicate
- formal customer visits are usually politically tricky
and if you throw Europe into it, you have to add
- availability of Customs
- availability of avgas
In the right scenario, GA travel will work for utility, but it takes more than a PPL and a rented spamcan. In another scenario (rather more common) a helicopter works really well (£££££). In yet another scenario e.g. travel to N France, a spamcan will beat any other transport into the dust. Etc....