I think you should pick a regional that works best with your budget, home, and personal circumstances. Mesa has a bad reputation because of how management has treated the crew members over the past 20 years. For whatever reason, the rest of the *regional pilots talk down on Mesa pilots. Mostly because of the fast upgrade times and low pay that still has yet to be fixed. Republic used to be in the exact same position. Now they are industry leading. I wouldn't count on Mesa ever fulfilling the same path though. With any company, there are good people and bad people. At the end of the day, we all fly the same kinds of airplanes, to the same types of destinations, and work rules are what they are. Lets hope that the regionals dissolve and mainline picks up the flying.