Mesa wants to talk to you.

Gotcha, thanks.

Nothing more to say other than, you're absolutely incorrect. I think you're confusing "pilot shortage" with "qualified pilot shortage".

Blaine i believe in what Apokleros said. the airlines want : 24 year` old blonde hair, blue eyes, dashing good looks and smile who can run a 6 minute mile, graduate from ERAU and with a 3.8 gpa, perfect credit and driving record not even a parking ticket, great recommendations, a 98% score on the atp knowledge exam, never busted a checkride and who is willing and able to live on 1800 dollars a month due to him /her having wealthy parents to help them repay his student loans and monthly living expenses. previously the airlines were happy because for every job there were 20 applicants like the above now they are getting only 5 and are concerned about a "pilot shortage"

Who wants to pay for their own hotel ever anywhere they go? Who wants to work for a company who pays them a wage that should be illegal for the first 30 days of employment then says they'll offer them barely over minimum wage for a year? No one. Dumb question.

In this environment I had to look at this situation as an investment. I don't have any 121 PIC time and that's the biggest thing for me not being competitive right now trying to get on with a major. Compass offers the quickest upgrade, in-base living for me, good airplanes, reasonably competitive 2nd year pay and beyond, a great pilot group and has a promising future (as much as one can have as a regional airline) ,and a very small pilot group that makes moving up the list (better quality of life) really fast compared to places like SKW or ExpressJet, Envoy, etc. Bite the bullet and find the airline that will get you to your final destination the fasted. Unfortunately I had to bite the bullet here at the beginning but it's starting to pay off.

never, ever, ever, ever chase a fast upgrade. More often than not it doesn't pan out and the only people who upgrade fast are the ones who are already there. chase somewhere you can survive as an FO for a while. (RAH was 18 months when I got hired, still an FO. Finally just seeing light at the end of the tunnel.)

Being able to "fill classes" is a relative term. Class sizes are arbitrary. Are they able to keep up with attrition is more relevant. In order to upgrade they have to be able to replace everyone that's leaving. Also, are people leaving? If people aren't leaving you maybe run into an issue with upgrade as well.

Although I sense a bit of sarcasm in your post. Everything you listed is accurate, but there are a lot of applicants out there right now similar to what you listed, but now since they are required to carry 1500 TT before being hired at a regional, they've realized they can go find a 91/135 job that pays double what they would make at a regional, have more time off, and a better QOL. They can also get these corporate jobs with 1000-1200TT with the right network. The qualified candidates are still out there, they've just chosen to go elsewhere for personal reasons.

Were you hired before the 2008 recession?

I agree with this statement. And a quick upgrade is the goal for most of us. If you say you're not chasing an upgrade by switching regionals I say you're in a little bit of denial or don't want to admit it on here. You're not going to sit at dying regional (Endeavor) just for the heck of it. You switch to get the chance to upgrade, to get better quality of life. You get better quality of life when you move up the list and then eventually become captain. The only way that happens is when there's a lot of movement and...wait for it...upgrades.

Most everyone wants a quick upgrade and will do what is needed to get it. It's evident with people continuing to apply at Mesa, Compass and PSA. They're all upgrading like crazy and adding planes/pilots.
Picking a regional to go to that will allow good quality of life and your ability to pay your bills is key for a lot of FOs right now as well.

XJ was upgrading at 18 months when I got hired there and I ended up sitting at the bottom of the FO list for 6 years with no opportunities to upgrade, ever. So it's impossible to know when you will upgrade but I say do everything you can to get that PIC time and get out. If I don't get PIC time I have a lower chance of getting out quickly.

Ehhh... that's not entirely true. Some people do make lateral moves for a QOL increase that doesn't include an upgrade possibility. Example is a friend of mine recently went from RAH to QX. He's no longer doing an absurd commute, but he sure didn't come over here for the upgrade...