Mesa or skywest
 

I have an offer for skywest late October but am considering mesa if they can get me in early August. My ultimate goal is to be dfw based.
Pros and cons for skywest better pay, overall better Qol, but looking at several months of commuting before being able to hold a line at dfw.

Pro and cons of mesa probably hold dfw much faster, faster training date, and as of now probably faster upgrade times, but lower pay.

I think mesa would be the better choice and if ultimately it's not a good pick I could always apply direct captain to skywest once I had the time. Thoughts and opinions?

No DEC at skywest as far as I know

Mesa & Skywest....

That’s like comparing Southwest & Sun Country.....

Is it a serious question or are you just trolling.... I’m leaning towards you trolling based upon the level of info available about the pay, benefits, working conditions of both jobs....

Whichever way you go, recycling yourself later for a lateral move is stupid. Go to the better job to start with.

Personally, get in and get some time... then get out to a good ACMI or LCC quickly. You can probably do both before ever upgrading at a regional. What is your end goal? If it is AA then if Mesa is seriously a consideration for you, you should do Envoy instead. Have direct flow to AA in your back pocket as an insurance policy if you don’t go to Spirit with their DFW base after 500 hours at the regional

Look at it this way.

Sign-on bonus: Mesa is currently offering $30k for CRJ pilots. Skywest is offering $7500.

Pay: Mesa FO starting pay - $36/hr, Skywest - $45

DFW based: Mesa, you can hold it after training. Skywest, no idea.

Upgrade: Mesa, upgrade after 1000 SIC, and probably still be DFW based. Skywest, I think the same, but will have to move to a junior base after upgrade.

Class dates: Mesa can get you in class in a couple weeks. Skywest in late October. You’ll be almost finished training with Mesa by the time the Skywest class starts.

Flying: You’ll fly a lot with Mesa. Short reserve in DFW (if any) after training. Skywest I have no idea.

Skywest has the largest fleet, largest pilot group, most bases, decent pay, good QOL as far as I know, and has contracts with 4 legacies. But no pilot union.

Mesa has low pay (but lots of flying, some at 200-300%), 145 aircraft, about 1370 pilots, 5 bases, decent QOL and contracts with 2 legacies. ALPA pilot group.

Get all the facts, and don’t believe everything bad you hear coming from pilots who don’t work at the regional they’re bashing.

I don't think southwest VS sun country is a good comparison as both of those would be someone's end game VS a regional stepping stone. But the post was completely serious. If the ultimate goal is to fly and get out as fastest as possible wouldn't mesa make sense? Endure the suck for a short term to get out as fast as possible? But no aa I could care less about the flow. Long term would be south west/FedEx, ups, k4 maybe

I find it hard to believe in this market that Sun Country is anyone’s “end game”. Their rates are awful.

That’s why it was a poor comparison. All regionals suck. Some just suck less.

Hey Flyboy, do you mind if I PM you about Mesa?

Not at all. Be glad to answer any questions.

ACMI/LCC aren't realistic after just 500 hours at a regional.
Spirit mins are 3000/1000 multi, 4000/1500 "preferred".

ACMI is realistic. Plus, we don’t know the OP’s background. Maybe they have previous jet time from a part 135 or 91.

Fly a lot at Mesa is an understatement... plan on Junior Man, extensions and flying max limits.

It absolutely is a fair comparison.
Both sell their own tickets under their own brand
Both fly the same equipment
Both are far far far from the same job

The same can be said for Skywest vs Mesa
Same subcontractor business model
Flying the same or similar RJ equipment
All regionals are not alike.

None of the good ACMIs are. Southern 737 yes, but not Kalitta, Omni and such.

I did assume he had no prior jet time.

Well, when you get a bit more industry experience and start listening to people outside the Envoy management bubble, you may just realize how wrong you typically are.

In this case, he doesn’t even need the 500 hours to go to ACMI. He can go as soon as he has his ATP. Southern is hiring right into the 737.... 500 hours of 121 gets him the 777 instead of the 737 at Southern.... and by the time he accumulates 500 of 121, the LCC minimums will have dropped yet again. Then, if he networks his tail off he can do like a recent Mesa pilot and go from restricted 1000 Hr ATP at a regional to 1550TT straight to a legacy.
But you keep on digesting the garbage your Envoy masters are feeding you.
:)

That might not be a bad idea. At Southern he’d be home based in DFW and they’ll get a contract sooner rather then later. After that the line to get in will drastically increase.

Oh, and Atlas accepts ATP mins also. Both are AAWW

See what they say when you apply at ATP mins.

I can tell you:

" Based on your resume you are not currently competitive for Atlas Air's larger gauge aircrafts. We do however believe you would be a great candidate for our sister company, Southern Air, which operates the 777F, 737-400 and 737-800 aircrafts."

The cutoff seems to be 2500 hours for Atlas.

I’d say take the one that’ll get you based where you want to be the fastest. You won’t dislike SkyWest if you go there (I speak from experience,) but living in base is a jewel, especially during your first year at the regionals. I know SkyWesters who abhor their job, and I know Mesa guys who love their job. It’s all subjective, but live in base if you can.

EDIT: Also, people here are talking about ACMIs and stuff, UPGRADE AT YOUR REGIONAL FIRST AND GET PIC TIME. Makes it easier to move on to better things if you don’t like the ACMI life (that’s also from experience.)