What I can't get is how the carriers HR team/management could even take on people proposing to work like this in the first place.
This sort of thing has been pretty common in the U.S. for decades now. Bases like EWR, JFK and SFO will usually have over 50% of the crewmembers commuting from over 100 miles (often over 1000 miles) away from statistics provided by the union and the company.
Some folks become war brides and commute from other continents to start a trip in the U.S.
Commuting has gone from a privilege to an entitlement in some quarters with major contract concessions made to assuage the commuters.
FedEx seems to have been tracking this stuff for a while even though they are exempt from most of the new rest regulations. Didn't they require a phone check in from a Memphis area code years ago? Now they track commuting with CASS from what Huck and others have said.
I've often flown with folks who commuted all day to get to base and then try to fly all night long on a crossing. 'The company can't tell me where to live!' is the battle cry if I dare to question the wisdom of such a commute. I get a funny feeling that things are about to change...