Horizon Questions
 

Hi im 18 almost a year now with a PPL and gonna be enrolling at central washington university in the fall of '06 and gonna take a shot at the flight officer program they got there. apparently one of the perks of completing the program is you get a guaranteed interview with horizon. while obviously ur not getting guaranteed a job the possibility exist if all goes well i might be able to land a job with them in the forseeable future. ive heard alotta good things about horizon on this and other forums and am considering the possibility of flying for the airlines(well except from one guy who seems to have a notorious rep on these forums). I just wanted to know anyone who's associated with horizon currently or knows pilots that fly for them what the enviornment is like and if they are everything they're hyped up to be. Any feedback would be great regards, Chris

Who ?
 

Who is the notorious guy that you are referring to? :)

SkyHigh

Hmmmmmm
 

I think it's probably you big guy!:cool:

CWU is a good school. I graduated from there a year ago. There are some items that should be cleared up about the direct hire with Horizon. You are not guaranteed an interview. When Horizon tells CWU that they need pilots, the faculty contacts alumni to send in their resume. Then the CWU faculty pick who they find most would be a good fit. then those people interview with Horizon. There has not been a direct hire since 2000 but there will be one at the end of April/ early May. I sent them my resume and info yesterday. I am hoping that thing work out.
Horizons mins on their website say 100 multi/ 1000 total time. What they are hiring is much more. A friend iterviewed with them last week, he had the lowest expirience. He flys freight out of Boeing field and said that everyone else was furloughed from an airline.
I have friends that instruct a Midstate aviation and they are good guys but keep your eyes open. I have been instructing at a flight school around Seattle for the last year and i am going to pass up 1,100 hours this coming up week and more inportant I have a guy that i flywitht that has a twin and i have more than 165 hours of twim time. I gues I am saying there is life other than Midstate after you graduate.
If you have anymore questions let me know if you need anything. Be sure to do an internship with Alaska or Horizon or SkyWest. Good luck.

So how do you set up those internships and stuff?? And do I have a good possiblity with about 1,550 hrs and my ATP?? And what would I do with those internships just jumpseat it?

The airline landscape is going to be SO much different by the time you get out at the age of 22 or 23. Broaden your qualifications while in school so that you'll be attractive to any airline by your graduation date. In this business, 4 years = 20 years in the regular world. So much can change...so much.

Specific Horizon Questions
 

I have 2100 TT, 165 Multi, 45 Turbo Prop (ATR-72), Prior Part 121 experience, and a BS in Aviation Operations. Does anyone currently working for Horizon know how these qual's would stack up with other new hires? Someone on this board mentioned they are hiring furloughed pilots. Are they hiring ONLY furloughed or mostly furloughed pilots? Some other questions I'd be interested to get some answers to:

How long is upgrade time (I'm prepared for 6-8 yrs)?

Are there any over nights in Sacramento, CA (SMF)?
Are those overnights in the Prop or Jet?

How long until I can bid for a jet, immediately with slim chances, or is there a certain amount of time you need to stay in the aircraft you were initially assigned to?

Pay for training?

Paid while in training?

Single/Double occupancy (if any at all) while in training?

I heard mention of a salary and not an hourly rate on another board. Are pilots paid on an hourly or salary basis?

How long on Reserve?

Thanks for any help.

Thanks for all the replies guys Engineout thanks for the advice ill keep that in mind and FL410 its nice to see someone from CWU with some expertise. Thank you for clarifying the interview part of the direct hire program in that it is not guaranteed. while it doesnt change my plans ill keep that fact in mind at least about when the time comes i may not even get an interview with them. i cant pm i guess as part of the post rule minimum but if u have an email address id be great to have a contact like yourself who can give me a little heads up on what to expect there. Thanks again all regards, Chris

Take it with a grain of salt - Horizon hired about a dozen instructors outta here this spring with I'm guessing around 1000/100 each. It took 750/100 for an interview. (LaMar is a UND alumni so I'm sure he's not bias) I think you should have a good shot.

I talked to several Hoizon pilots when they were here under a year ago and my understanding was this: You will remain on the aircraft you are assigned to for your entire time with the company. If you get assigned to the Q200, it isn't an option to upgrade to the Q400 or CRJ. Again, this was my take on the way things are, I'm sure someone can give you a more definate answer.

try www.willflyforfood.cc and click on the Horizon interviews. It looks like you need some more experience than being a CFI. I think it's great that you are aiming high for an airline job but consider that Horizon is not a good place if you are trying to go to the majors as fast as you can because of the slow upgrade time. You might want to consider an airline that has good work rules and a good upgrade time. Plus, I have no idea but it seems like Horizon is a turboprop friendly airline. If major airline hiring is still slow I wouldn't want to be stuck flying a turboprop!