[snip] Many spells and all ranged weapons have a range attack of 18m. If Gale jump + move it is 11m more. [snip]
Sure, his jump+move is 11m, but his regular move is already 9m. So Gale is spending a bonus action to move an additional 2m. Which, hey, might be just what you need to get in range!
But that's much less likely to be relevant than a Strength character getting an extra 6m from jumping, especially since Str characters likely are melee. That's a 65% increase on the area they threaten! And especially worth it since Str characters typically have less use for their bonus actions. And here's where jump increasing distance is dumb, as it almost entirely overshadows Dash.
