I'm currently a 1.5 yr Eagle FO based in LAX. I would like to stay out west and live in base in either California, Colorado, or Washington.

I guess my question is, should I stay with Eagle, deal with commuting, and bank on this rumored pilot shortage to move me on somewhere better? Or should I join Skywest or Republic?

Its not like I've amassed a ton of seniority at Eagle so switching companies isn't all that bad.

For Republic, I guess I'm concerned with how much bad stuff I hear about them. Although they are getting 30 odd Q400's what are my chances of being based in DEN which is really their only out west option? Or how long would I have to commute until I could transfer there? Planning on growing or shrinking the DEN base?

For Skywest, they have lots of out west options but how senior are they? I've heard people don't move on from them so how long am I going to be skimming the bottom of the list? Also the expected upgrade time and time on reserve? New hire base, etc?

Thanks for your feedback!