You know, I have been reading this board for some time now and I can hardly believe all the bashing the Mesa pilots receive. All you bashers are like children. And from what I can see, the Mesa pilots all conduct themselves with honor and respect, well, for the most part at least. I pray that these derogatory views are just from a self-conscious, pimple faced, scrawny 125 lb. soaking wet, unprofessional minority of pilots. I would also pray that the pilots flying our citizens around this amazing country are professional, responsible and mature.
From what I understand, Comair (just one example) signed a contract when demand for their services was at an all time high. True? And when it came time for Mesa to redo their deal, demand was at an all time low (due to 9/11, other economic factors notwithstanding). On top of that, there was a very real threat of all of their flying being taken away if they struck. So all the trumpeters of other pilot groups that didn't have to stand up to that adversity, I simply request that you cease the nonsense and feel for the souls that wanted to keep food on the table. Or perhaps you feel it would have been better if they had allowed all their flying to be taken away and join "your" airline, and consequently giving up any seniority they had accrued.
I was also interested in the question posed on this thread, being a pilot not employed in the aviation industry yet. And Lawest, you probably have a lot of time on your side. Skywest is the much better choice for FO pay and QOL and all that other icing on the cake. Does it matter that your ground school gets pushed back a few months, or heck, even a year? If you are in your twenties or even thirties, you still will have solid 25 to 35 years or so in this tumultous industry to make it to the left seat on some heavy somewhere.
If I were in your position, I would go with Skywest. The only real draw for me to join the Mesa ranks would be that if you got into a prop, (Dash or 1900) you could upgrade to a captain in less than a year (allegedly) and be making more than any FO while gaining valuable left seat experience. You could then (also allegedly) move to the left seat of a CRJ or ERJ in a few years, again still making more than any FO at any regional, spend some time there, and then try to jump to a major with a lot more Jet PIC time than any FO at Comair, Whisky, Skywest, et. al. However, you may have to put up with all the other crews sticking there tongues out at you, talking about you under their collective breaths, and listening to the other children call you "dork" over the radios.
Congrats on two job offers. You are a fortunate soul. I hope to be sharing the skies with you soon.
Carry on.