I was sitting in the waiting room at Alaska Airlines with two other applicants. We had finished our simulator rides earlier that morning and were waiting for the board interview when one received a phone call. It was his wife with good news. Horizon Airlines had called his home to congratulate him for getting hired at Alaska Airlines. Apparently the HR department had already called Horizon Air earlier that morning to tell them that they would be taking him.

When asked when he would be home he told his wife that he hadn't even gone in for his interview yet. Sheepishly he had to tell us what his phone call was about. Soon after the secretary called him in and fifteen minutes later he was on his way home being escorted out by one of the interviewing captains who was in the middle of telling him a story about a trip he had with his father years prior.

It is a nice idea to think that pilots are hired upon skill, experience and education alone. The reality is that you would recognise many of the names in a new hire class from the seniority list. Privilege and connections are prevalent in the airlines and I am told in the military as well.

Minimums, past convictions even fake educations are overlooked daily for the sons and daughters of the right people. Why does this matter to me, you might ask? Well every airline hires only a handful of people during most years. By my guess as many as one third are legacy hires and another third or more are from military connections. Human resources always has the diversity candidates that they campaign for. The seats left over gets awfully small for the average Joe off the street.

Don't kid yourself, most of the pilots who make it to the majors have had someone grease the system for them at some point. Either it was through a coveted placement in the military or a handshake between fathers behind the scenes. Few make it upon their own merit alone. The PC term is "networking". The ones who recieved the most help are easy to spot since they become enraged at the suggestion of it. My advise to you is to either get into one of those privileged groups or count on having considerably reduced odds and a much longer and more difficult time.

SkyHigh