Hello all and happy holidays, so I'll lay it out as clear as I can

I have 1200+ hrs and have been interviewing with a few regionals

I landed an offer with envoy pending 1500 hrs (all other requirements are met)

I have been in contact with others including Skywest who I have in interview with in December

I will be commuting from California( not moving for now)

So here my question, what do you guys think about either company for present and future. I see it more simply as this
30$ an hour at Sky west compared to 24 @ envoy

Sky west has a 2 month reserve
Envoy is 2/5 years

Sky west is non Union and no flow
Envoy does

Please chime in thanks!

Do you prefer chocolate cake or vanilla?

Skywest has several CA bases. Youre quality of life will be dramatically better if you live in base. Why commute 3+ hours to sit reserve for a few years? To me its a no brainer.

Because of the FLOW bro.

Which ever is sweeter lol

Deff Envoy then.

I'm with you on that one, I do not want to sit in a room and twiddle my thumbs for a few years, how ever I wonder if it's worth the suck to flow up, also is it a realistic timeline to sit reserve for a few years then FO for a few more and then CA until it's my turn to go? Or go with a faster upgrade and apply down the road

The amount of suck wont be worth it. Flow is a marketing tool and should never be the main reason you choose an airline. Its not a nice backup but choosing to go to one purely for a flow is incredibly foolish. Chances are you will get hired at a major well before AA calls your name.

See that's what my thoughts are, I mean even if I never take the horse blinders off and only try for one legacy I think I'd get there faster with Skywest in this situation, thanks

While SkyWest (to me) would be the more attractive of the two given you already live on the West Coast, I would honestly look elsewhere. I think with all the retirements in the next 5 years at mainline, you will want to go somewhere and upgrade as soon as possible to make yourself as attractive as possible to get one of those jobs. You don't want to be 8 to 10 years out catching the backside of the mainline hiring wave. I have friends who have been there for 4-5 years and haven't upgraded. Same at Envoy. Now I know that current upgrade times aren't always a good indicator of what upgrade time will be like in a year or two, but that's still a whole lot of people above you who will upgrade before you do. And I'm not saying that an AAG wholly owned is a bad choice right now (far from it actually). You will basically eliminate American from your list of potential airlines you want to work for by not going to an AAG wholly-owned. But choose carefully and don't sip the kool-aid from anyone. There are positives and negative to each of the wholly-owneds (and all airlines in general for that matter). Good luck in your choice.