Mesa vs Skywest vs Compass
 

A good friend of mine has been asking me which of these three airlines he should join. He lives in Chicago and has class dates for the E175 at all three. Please no trolling. He has about 3,000TT, previous 121 but has been out of the game while he and his wife started a family.

Wants a potential quick upgrade and is willing to commute? CPZ

QOL via ORD out of training? SKW

I told him that I thought that while Skywest may offer an ORD base, he'd be better off at Mesa or Compass. Surely he'd be on reserve forever at Skywest on the 175 and he wouldn't see the left seat for 7-8 years?

Quick upgrade or QOL via driving to work?

Things are starting to move at SKW (very slowly). However, it will be a much longer upgrade than Mesa (as long as the wheels don't fall off) or CPZ (as long as the AA rollout goes ok). There were large periods (years) where nobody was hired at SKW, upgrades will drop overnight, but nowhere near 18-24 months.

I know a guy hired into ORD who is a lineholder after one month of reserve on the CRJ. I know it doesn't have engines under the wings, but driving to the airport to fly your own line after a month is a pretty decent deal. Again, QOL or quick upgrade...

With kids, not commuting was a family game changer. Best 8 years of my life was not commuting with a young family.

Things change a lot in this industry. He has a class date for the 175 at SKW? I can tell you that for October there are 0 reserve lines on the 175 in ORD. Again things change and I'm sure in a few months they'll have at least a couple of reserve lines. But I don't think he'd be on reserve forever on the 175.

SkyWest. Not having to commute is HUGE. Sitting reserve in base isn't that bad.

With a family, living in base will earn huge QOL points. I wouldn't even consider being a commuter with a family. If your friend was a commuter in his previous 121 endeavors, I can't imagine why he'd even ask the question.

I would normally say to go where you can fly the most, upgrade in a reasonable amount of time, and GTFO, but in this case that ship has already sailed since he has a family.

At this point it may be best to chase the QOL of being based at home, and just accept the fact that you may very well be a regional lifer. Either that or you'll be slinging gear for most of your time at the majors.

hiring mins
 

I've been out of the industry for five years, 4000 hours mostly jet time and three jet type ratings. I'm not current. Interviewing with regionals next month. Is some basic instrument sim time with instructor ok or do I have to go get a bfr...it really is a money thing. Don't want to spend the cash if I don't have to