A bit exaggerated, bro... For leaving so long ago, you are quite an expert when it comes to QX questions.
PS I still have a lot of friends who work there and am not wearing a pair of rose colored glasses.
Friends in the business does not qualify you to be an expert in a dynamically changing business...
For some, it IS a great career. The top half of the seniority has no desire to leave PDX or SEA or commute for the lust of big iron. Your statements assume that guys only want to go to QX for PIC time. That may be the desires of the younger generation, but that is not always true.
As for myself had I stayed I would be reaching 60K after nearly 10 years with the company.
Had you stayed, you would have the
choice to bid RJ @ $100k/yr, or Q4 @ $90k/yr. It may not be what you wanted out of your career, but others may be content.
The bottom line is that Horizon Air is a fairly good place to work now and that is exactly why you should not go there. Upgrade will continue to be long and drawn out. Even after reaching the left seat it can take more than a year to get a line.
"You should not go there" is a very powerful statement. That should not be your call to make, but the decision of an applicant based on the current facts.
You are right, it is a
fairly good place to work, if that is what you are looking for.
I don't deny that right now upgrades are at 6 years. It is cyclical. The business is dynamically changing. Every time we've gone through growth, or fleet changes, the upgrade time is significantly impacted one way or the other. In 1997, nobody was hired due to the phase out of the D328 and Metro. Thus upgrade time went to 5-7 years in the late 90's. In 99-2000, we traded in 1 Dash 8 100 for every 2 Q200's, and acquired 14 F28's. That growth combined with massive hiring at the majors brought upgrades in 2000-2002 to 19-24 months... 2002, F28 phase out, 9/11, etc, and we saw furloughs.
Bottom line: Guys looking to apply at QX should know the
real facts, not bitter statements made by someone whom hasn't worked there under a Union contract. QX has a unique business model compared to the other 37-76 seat operators in the U.S. There is NO rapid growth mainly because we are not racing to the bottom to win contracts for bankrupt carriers.
So, if you want to be on the fast track to get PIC time in an RJ, QX may not be the place for you. But if you want to live in PDX or SEA and fly a CRJ700, Dash8 Q400, or Dash8 Q200 all over the west coast; make more money than other similar carriers; be home 4-5 nights per week; then QX may be a quality decision for you. AS is now hiring QX FO's with 2000 hours at QX. That will take about 2.5 years and you can skip waiting for the PIC time.
Caveat emptor: The companies in the race to the bottom may go bankrupt, move your domicile, or furlough before you get that elusive PIC time.... I've flown with several FO's recently that have been furloughed twice from other regionals before getting any PIC time. IE: Independence, Comair, Mesaba. They say they came to QX knowing that they've been unlucky, and at least QX is a decent place to work without fear of being furloughed, losing pay to win a contract, or forced to move when United X's their contract.
For every debate out there, someone can find and dwell on the negatives. All this does is create unhappy, negative people... Must be from all that rain out there... I like to be happy. Focus on the positive, and take the bad with the good.... There is no perfect Eden out there, but hopefully you can use facts to find a happy balance.