Horizon .... What do you think?
 

I occasionaly stop by this forum and read some of the threads. It seems that there's always talk about SKW, Ex Jet, Colgan, Eagle, Etc ... but I never read anything about Horizon. I am relocating to the west coast and Horizon seems like a well established regional but unfortunately I don't know much about them. Is there anyone that can offer some insight about this company? I'm lookking for work ethics, upgrade time, dinero$$, things of the such. Is it a good company to work for? Thanks

Horizon Air
 

Horizon is a strong, conservative and well funded company that is like a rock in the pacific NW. They operate mostly new aircraft and fly to some of the most beautiful places in the United States.

Living in the NW is a huge draw and Horizon enjoys a low turnover as a result. They especially like to hire retired military pilots with low expectations and therefore have a stagnant seniority list. Upgrade is painfully slow. Currently it is someplace around 6 to 7 years. Their conservative nature prevents rapid expansion mania however is slow to advance upon opportunities. Horizon Air is planning to expand through acquiring larger aircraft so I don't expect upgrade times to get any quicker. In fact they might reduce the number of pilot on line as a result.

Currently pay is better than at most regionals however management traditionally is more comfortable at the lower end of the pay scale. Contract negotiations I am sure will result in a pay cut.

SKyHigh

Horizon is not a stepping stone, but rather a career airline. If you are content with sitting in the right seat for 6-8 years and not being able to hold captain in the CRJ for closer to 15 years than by all means Horizon is a great place to be. Just be careful... there is no growth at Horizon.

Never Mind

Long upgrade, good company, good pay. Translates to stability, but not to quick career progression if you dream of the majors. Looks like it would maybe be a good place to be if you have a family to support. Plus, they do send folks to Alaska on a fairly regular basis, I've heard...As always, it depends on your life situation.

I think I've seen that tampico photo taped on somebody's desk somewhere, Groovin.;)

Quoteing bintynogin "...If you are one of those pilot that think you deserve a jet or 2 year upgrade then I would say look somewhere else. If you want to love your job and have a good quality of life then I would say go to Horizon..."

...spoken by someone who doesn't fly a jet. I know more than anyone that I don't deserve my seat in the CRJ and that it is truly a blessing. I absolutely love to fly and would fly a even a Cessna 172 if the pay was decent, but c'mon there is part of all of us that wants to be flying a jet and there is nothing wrong with desireing that.

There are Jet regionals with realtively quick upgrades where QOL is great. I'm not saying that Horizon is a bad place to be, but if you desire a career flying something other than (mostly) a Dash 8, I would reccomend Skywest or AWAC.


Kansas... Good to see you on here man.

Never Mind

Don't be so sure. Time is on our side.:)

Why the retraction of the statements?

My sentiments exactly!

Because that grown people business.... I dont know nothing man.. Dont listen to me

Ummm no. 4-5 yrs for the Dash. 7 yrs for the RJ.

Anyone have any idea about the number of people they want to hire this year?

Clear case of SJS.

What difference does it make what kind of engine is on your aircraft? Just as you say, I'd fly a Cessna around if it would net me $100K a year.

Yawn......
It took 4 years for the first one to be hammered out. Precedence has been set.

My point exactly.

Is that the case now? Seemed like it was the opposite in the 90's.

Not intending to support or enable SJS, but in many cases the type of engine on the plane determines the schedule, and thus QOL...

Props often do 8-10+ short legs/day, jets probably average 3-4, usually longer legs. In my opinion most of a pilot's work is done on the ground during the turns. Longer days and a lot more busy-work in the prop. Instead of doing turns I'd rather be reading my newspaper at FL330.


Maybe I'm just lazy...

Well, the '90s was 10 years ago. Things change.

You will see many more Horizon guys at Alaska in the next couple of years. The secret handshake has occurred.:D

Can anyone answer my last questio that brought this thread back to life. How many people is Horizon looking to hire and does anyone have any class dates? Thanks.

The current "Training Plan" has no slots showing for new hires through June. However, take that with a giant grain of salt. It all depends on how many people leave for other places, and that "plan" never seems to be even close to accurate.

It's about time! Congrats!

It's possible that they just didn't want ME, but it sure seemed like there were a lot of other 10-15 year Captains who couldn't get an interview at the "sister company" back then.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear there's finally going to be a real opportunity for guys to move over!

Re: the "handshake"

Good news for me I suppose.... I'm in class for the Q200 right now. Nothing but good things to say about Horizon so far (realizing I haven't been "on the line" yet). But I wouldn't mind seeing an upgrade in less than 4 years.

Anyone know how many Horizon Pilots are later hired at Alaska? Will Alaska hire Horizon guys from the right seat who have no turbine PIC time?

I've heard of this but I don't think it happens often.

As far as hiring goes, I think I saw on the training plan for another 18 slots in January that haven't been filled yet. Them Q400's are on the way!!

My theory with contract negotiations is it can only get better. The Q400 will be a cash cow when all the kinks of being that first operator are out of the way.

Ya, thats what we thought 7 years ago!:D

Good news for me I suppose.... I'm in class for the Q200 right now. Nothing but good things to say about Horizon so far (realizing I haven't been "on the line" yet). But I wouldn't mind seeing an upgrade in less than 4 years.[/QUOTE]

Upgrade in four years at Horizon will most likely won't happen unless Alaska opens up the flood gate.

Not necessarily. We didn't hire for about 1 1/2 years after 9/11. So the upgrade time will instantly drop by that amount soon enough. That makes upgrade go from 6 to 4 1/2.