Originally Posted by
Rnav
I actually believe that companies like Alaska waive the carrot in front of Horizon employees like Skyhigh is saying. Plenty of companies do it. The government agency i work for does the same crap.
But with that being said, if those employees know that's how the companies operate the employees shouldn't pin their hopes on working for Alaska. Apply overseas or somewhere else local. To sit there and take the abuse in hopes of being one of the few that get the call is stupid. I don't think it needs to be said that the legacies and local US airlines suck when it comes to treatment of employees.
Rnav,
Horizon Air is where my career progression died. I was told by an Alaska Airlines captain that if I wanted to go to Alaska that I had better "fly for Horizon". I never wanted to work there but this was a sitting captain who was telling me this, so I did it. He didn't know any better. The last time he had to get an aviation job was in the 1970's.
Two days into ground school I was told that no one goes to Alaska Airlines from Horizon Air. Not the pilots, flight attendants, ground crew or gate agents. Alaska Airlines, as an unspoken policy, rarely hired anyone from Horizon Air.
To make matters worse if I left Horizon Air before the two year training contract was up or if I had a blemish of any kind on my record while at Horizon Air it would assure that I would never get hired by Alaska Airlines. Essentially I was stuck at the one place where I was virtually assured to never make it to my dream from and had to appear as though I was happy about it.
Lastly in the airline world Horizon Air is a tiny little regional out in the sticks. The company hates growth. Upgrade is very slow. Pilots were not leaving in droves to go to the majors. There were few bread crumbs to follow. Most careers ran out of steam there and died. Of those who did leave it was usually to pursue other aspirations outside of aviation since it becomes clear that Horizon Air is a career black hole where the gravitational pull is powerful to overcome.
Lesson 1: Don't work for Horizon Air if you wish to fly for Alaska Airlines.
Lesson 2: Don't take career advice from a senior airline captain. Their information is as fresh as the day they got hired years ago.
Skyhigh