Originally Posted by Fly406

Hello! I am currently going through the pilot development program and am working on my ATPCTP as we speak, here was how it went for me.

Firstly, I would say from personal experience that the PDP (pilot development program) is a great tool and a great opportunity if you are looking to get a foot into QX with low time.

They came to the school I was working at about 5 months ago for the students and I signed up as well with ~900hrs. at the time. They came in and did an HR interview with all of us. The typical "Who are you?" , "Where did you come from?" , "Where do you want to be in..." type questions. They reviewed my resume and basically offered my a job on the spot. Now, normally there was a small technical interview as well. They send you an email with a few questions on it and you respond with video clips of you explaining the answer. I never did this as I was kind of lost in the crossfire of restaffing and understaffing of the program, but that is what they told me would happen.

The program gives you $7500 as a bonus (yes you have to sign something, I'll get into that later) to continue on getting your ratings and instruct at the school you are working with. You sound like you're in the same boat as me and that bonus will essentially just be money they give you sine you have your ratings already and no, it isn't taken from any future pay, they give it to you on the premise that you will work for them for 2 years.

The contract you receive basically states as such. "We are giving you money, and expect you to work for us for 2 years. If you stop working for us within those two years for any reason, we want that 7500 back." There is nothing on actual Horizon pay or the aircraft sign on. It is just for the PDP. And the contract itself is like 2 pages long, super easy to read, so after that I was able to sign it in confidence that they weren't screwing me.

After all they they keep tabs on you and your hours and when you are getting close they start to set up ATPCTP class dates, and QX ground school dates. My ATP date was 3/5/18 and my QX start is 3/19/18 so they get you in pretty quick (I am in the Q400, they say the E175 is a ways off for start dates so keep that in mind). The bonuses for the Q and E jet have been switched around a few times but here is what I am getting. I'm going into the Q with 0 exp: $15000 sign on bonus. 10k @ signing and the other 5k 18 months in. You only get that 25000 if you have over 500 hours I believe in the Q.

Since then they have sent me all my training docs and a conditional job offer saying I've got the job so long as I pass training (which I've heard is hard to fail...) and I am scooting along very nicely.

My experience with the program is that they are really trying hard to help me get through as best they can, and it was chaos at a point towards the beginning but now the staffing that they have is coming together and I haven't had a hiccup in months. They are all super helpful and usually answer any email or call I have within a day or two. Overall, I think its a great program and really streamlines the process.