Well I am not sure about UND but I talked to Lamar, the Cheif Pilot, and he said they are going to Central this fall so I'm sure that they would make a trip out there too.

 

I just heard there might be a class date for the 400 this October but nothing is official yet. Ill try to keep you guys posted once I find out more. With all the planes coming back from Denver and the new deliveries of the 400, hiring will pick a lot soon. Like I said before, the only major hiring that is going to happen through the winter will be due to attrition.

 

I heard a couple of days ago that UND had 5 or 6 applicants for the -700 class they wanna fill in Oct, 750TT and 50 multi are the mins, guess not too many UND guys have that because they are getting snatched up by Mesaba, Piedmont, TSA and all the others that will take UND people with just a Comm/Multi ticket

 

This is very true. A lot of my friends didn't go to horizon cause they got picked up at great lakes first. CWU mins are 850TT and 50 multi.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think these people need to learn patience. Whats wrong with instructing till you get your mins for a good regional?... It’s not like the pay and QOL are better at a bad regional compared to instructing... Getting on the regional you want first and building seniority is what I think matters most. Not jumping around from regional to regional... but it all boils down to personal preference what kind of lifestyle you want.

I've been tackling this issue of sending out my resume and apps to all those comm/multi min places (Piedmont, TSA and all the others) and at first I got really excited. But then I started to think about it. Do I really want to make less than a manager of McD's and live somewhere I don't want (east coast)... NO. I would rather gain that instructing experience that everyone on here says is so important and become a better pilot first. I can tell you that I am almost 100% I can make it through 121 training and the sim, no problem. I can practice as much as I want in our king air sim for almost nothing and I've already been through Horizons 400 training and it's not that hard if you just pay attention in class, but just because I can doesn't mean I should.

Please any thoughts would really be appreciated. Am I really making the right choice of not going to one of these low time regionals or is instructing over rated?

 

i was crazy enough to come up all the way from AZ to enroll in the program there. Came in with my private, got my instrument and then decided to get out and go back to AZ. Now I can get in state tuition, get a real degree, and save some dough. The school is too expensive for an out of state student when you factor in out of state tuition and flight costs into the equation. It is also very difficult to get an aviation scholarship or any financial help except for loans. The Horizon deal was part of the reason that intrigued me to go there because I would've liked to get on with them, but nowadays so many places are hiring that there is ample opportunity to find a good flying job. Like a previous poster said, Horizon is a good company, but it's just another regional that pays higher than most.

It was a fun experience for a year, but Central isn't a great place for an out of state student, ellensburg got tiresome, and the school wasn't very academically challenging, although the flight program was very good and most of the faculty and instructors were awesome people. Hope the internship is going well and if I was in your shoes I would certainly give Horizon a shot take care, Chris

 

I had an old instructor that went from Big Sky to Mesaba, which makes no sense to me, go from crappy regional to crappy regional, and I'm sure after just under a year at Big Sky he would have the time to go to a better regional than Mesaba, I graduate from UND in December and will not even look at one of those $19-$21 an hour starting out, if your paying $500/month on rent thats barely enough to pay the bills, and yes that is worse than a shift manager at an McD but some people just wanna get in too quick and I think that is a mistake. Plus someone going somewhere with 200TT and the min multi time to get a Comm/Multi ticket has a better chance of washing out than someone who has instructed for a year and built up about 800TT, maybe got an MEI and some more multi time, but just think in that year how much more experience a person gained from instructing rather than just going somewhere that you can fly an E145 (TSA) with 250TT or something like that. My advice to you is build up your time, go to a regional that will actually pay and you will enjoy your QOL for next 4-8 years rather than getting in now and hating your life for the next 4 years....

 

No argument here. You are right on. That was kinda crazy... Ellensburg does get old quick but I went to Big Bend in Moses Lake, so Ellensburg was a step up for me... It is really expensive but I got financial aid and haven't paid a cent of my tuition all four years... I got really lucky I know. The internship is going great and I've met a lot of great people and made alot of great friends here. Horizon is where I want to be. I love flying, but I just can't see myself living anywhere but the Northwest so I'll do everything I can to stay here and I really don’t want to commute.

 

Thank You. I feel the same way. That's my plan.

 

BNE 744-
I graduate from CWU the same time as you... Got any instructor jobs lined up yet? I feel so lucky to have people recruiting me to instruct. Wow how things change in a couple years...

 

I'm so happy I got PDX for SKW. I love it up here too. I wish I was back in Seattle but this will do for now.