Although both XR & QL are short on crew, I would be siding with the former to be the one standing. With QL now having to advertise twice in the Australian and with the new low minimum requirements, they are in no position to expand west.
Having said that, I heard that out of 20-30 people called for XR interviews recently, only 3-5 said yes.
I would suggest to Skywest to get with the times regarding the NASA recruiting process and attract some good long term crews with a simple interview. If it were to improve on its already good (relative to its neighbours) T & Cs then I think they could be the benchmark. No endo fee, bond, AWA and good morale are great, but not enough anymore. If they introduce a smoother, more relevant recruiting process and sweeten the pot a bit, well – the sky is the limit.
I don’t think QL would be a better option for XR crew by any stretch of the imagination. Personally I think it will be the QF group that will struggle in the future.
It’s a good time to be a pilot and it is important to support the good airlines like XR. They will be the ones that retain crew and survive.
Ps I don’t work for either mob.