Q400 vs Jet
 

Looking for some info so I can make an educated decision.

I was hired last month and assigned to 175s. The other day I (and I imagine most new hires) received a call asking if I'd be willing to switch to the Q. My Q start date would be as soon as Feb, and the jet start date is projected for April.

Getting to work sooner sounds appealing, but I have a couple questions:

1) Typically, how many legs and what airports are served for each? Where do you RON? I'm a mil guy, so one of my weaker areas is lack of experience going into major airports...that's something I'd like to expose myself to.

2) What bases are guys getting out of training? How long to switch? I'll be commuting out of Sacramento, and one reason I liked the 175 was the Seattle base...easiest commute I could come up with.

I'm sure I'll come up with a couple more. As always, appreciate any help.

Q400 vs Jet
 

Easiest commute you can do is PDX. I did it for two years. Plenty of DL and AS commuters headed to Seattle and only 2-3 more flights a day, some out of the A terminal making the rush from one side to the other more difficult if you miss your online flight. Just SWA and AS/QX to PDX. I only met another commuting pilot twice.

Jet came after I left, but you’ll get plenty of major airport experience on the Q. You’ll also get experience turning your own lights on and announcing on CTAF at midnight in the mountains and fly some ridiculous approaches...stuff not included in my mil time. Q was enjoyable. You’ll move to a major and do easy flying in easy airplanes for the rest of your life. Enjoy the work while you can.


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I also was assigned the 175 and am waiting for a May training date. Kinda wishing I chose the Q myself.

You won't regret flying the jet over the Q. Trust me.

Does Horizon assign the aircraft or can you request which one you want to fly?

I actually enjoy flying the Q400. Most of our trips are three or four days. In a typical four-day trip, you'll average about four legs a day. You'll overnight in "exotic" locales such as Pasco, Santa Rosa, Wenatchee, and Redmond. The Q400 does a lot of interesting flying. We have Cat III capability and do stuff like RNP, GPS, and LPV approaches.

Many of the new-hires are getting Portland immediately after training. From what I've heard, Seattle is relatively senior for FO's.

The main down side to the Q400 is that it is complicated (maybe more than it needs to be), with a lot of unusual quirks and a not-so-user-friendly FMS. The schedules can be brutal. Advantages of the jet? Better schedules, easier airplane, and that "jet" thing on your type rating. Lots of airlines operate the E170/E175. Very few fly the Q400.

Both the jet and our Q400's operate into some very busy airports. In the last year, I've been to Los Angeles (numerous times), Las Vegas, Seattle, and Salt Lake. If you hate getting up at 4 a.m. or getting done at midnight, you're not going to like either one. The jet actually operates some "red-eyes". We don't do any of these in the Q400, but there are plenty of 11 p.m. departures out of Seattle.

Good luck!

You can always express a preference as far as aircraft type or base. The company has actually been pretty good as far as aircraft type (the base can be more of an issue, as there's only one jet base and two or three of the Q400 bases have a waiting list).

Thanks for the knowledge guys.

Tough choice. Try to avoid letting my anxiousness cloud my decision making, but it sure would be nice to start building hours at a good rate again...I'm a KC-135 AC in the reserves, but I've only been getting 15-20 hours a month over the past year.

What Q bases have waiting lists and about how long, thanks

O.K., keep in mind that it might take 4 months to get through training. At the present time, the FO seniority at each base (from most junior to most senior) is:

Medford
Portland
Spokane
Boise
Seattle

I can't tell you exactly how many months at each base, but the junior guy in the Q400 in Seattle has been here about 8 months or so. You can expect to get your base of choice within a year.