If things like "ready reserve" are needed to tip the scale I'd suggest applicants instead go with their gut, you will probably be happiest.

Alas, this isn't true. I once had a 4-day OBR block where on Day 1, they had me DH to a base and sit ready for 4 hours. It was not at the end of the trip.

Ended up 'sitting ready' at the pool at the Renaissance PSP hotel. (You can just about do it, if your bags are packed and you're ready to sprint to your room, put on the monkey suit and hail a cab.) :cool:

Ready reserve is extremely minimal at Skywest.

I wanna know where you are based?

I keep getting standups on my second to last day of reserve. Life is good. 10 hours rest mandatory. I'll take it.

Yeah, I was referencing where someone earlier said you get t at the end of a trip. I was trying to clarify that line holders don't get assigned ready as part of their awarded trips, but rather it is something that goes to reserves. Thanks for clarifying though. I could have been more clear.

Having been at both airlines you can expect to sit ready reserve for 8 hours at the airport A LOT if you end up going to envoy. They even have ready reserve lines you could bid each month. When I was there they had 4 ready reserve periods every day with 2 pilots sitting ready for each. If one of them got called out the next reserve guy in line would get called in to replace the guy who was called out. ( happened to me a lot! Nothin like getting the phone call at 4 am to sit ready for 8 hours at 6....) Skywest doesn't utilize ready reserve nearly as much as envoy but we do have the "bucket" system which sucks!
In the end, I wouldn't select an airline based off of ready reserve or any reserve for that matter as now days it's short lived. I spent over 3 years on reserve at envoy but I doubt that's the case for someone new there now. In the end my reserve experience was a lot better at Skywest. Now days at envoy you'll most likely be pre assigned a 4am RAP on day one and extended over and over, sometimes into your days off. Reserve is usually short lived now days, unless your a jr captain in a super senior base....,,

I was talking to an envoy guy the other day so fed up he's going corporate. skw is far from perfect but I haven't seen anything like that here

$60k at Envoy to be junior manned on your days off and have a six year upgrade.... No thanks. SkyWest has far better work rules and our upgrade time on both airframes is waaaayyy faster.

When I interviewed in April 2014, upgrade time was 8 years. Everyone said "If you go to SKW be prepared to be an FO forever."

With all the guys that have been hired since the hiring department opened the floodgates in late 2013...there is either gonna have to be some incredible attrition, or we're gonna have to find a lot more flying, for this less-than-2 year upgrade train to continue rolling. We've hired A LOT of people over the past 36 months; the list has grown by ~800 pilots in the past 2 years. All I'm saying is, if I were a new hire now, I would not look at our 20-month upgrade and expect I'm gonna get that.