Well according to APC, the last guy that upgraded at Horizon was hired in 2001!
12 year upgrade? Why would anyone go there if their objective is to get on with a major asap?

Don't get me wrong, Horizon is a well respected airline and is no doubt a great company to work for, but unless you live in Boise and want the QOL, its not a smart career choice in my opinion.

(No doubt some one will take offence to the above statement and lable me a "tool" or a "troll." )

 

That's exactly what I'm saying

Even if one day Horizon becomes the highest paying regional, and offers their people the best benefits in the industry. Young F/Os at the bottom of the seniority list are still going to bash it because they're there to get their PIC time and go.

Horizon will have trouble attracting young pilots for the same reason.

For those on the left seat, Horizon is a great deal.

 

To put it in perspective for someone who does not work at horizon, as of this year there is only 21 pilots on horizons seniority list who are under the age of 30. There are few "young" pilots at QX. Most of us will not upgrade at horizon until well after our 35th birthday. Us FOs are not bashing, we are just stating the facts. The vast majority of horizon's captains upgraded in less then 5 years, now it takes 6 years to hold Seattle and almost 7 to hold Portland as FO. Even then you will be on reserve until you can upgrade into MFR. So stating that it is career suicide to work here is not bashing, just a warning.

 

You know IMHO I think the whole PIC requirement to get on at a major is going to go to the wayside, in fact it already has started. Will you be more competitive with PIC time? Sure, but its not going to be a firm requirement. (From a former Horizon FO who never upgraded and left with 0 PIC)

QOL is the big deal at QX, unless you live in MFR or BOI and want to sit reserve at home, there is no real reason to go to this floundering airline. While it may be around for a long time, there is a good chance it will remain stagnant, or shrink further than it has over the past 6 years.

 

Nailed it. The TPIC requirement will only fade more than it already has. With the massive career stagnation over the last 10 years across the board in this industry, there are a large number of RJ captains who won't be leaving. Either they don't want to start over at the bottom of a new list, or they have run the numbers and are too old for it to make a meaningful difference with regards to pay. Almost every captain I've talked to at Horizon has no plans of ever leaving.

TPIC will always be a good thing to have, and it will always be desirable for major airlines looking for applicants.

Every airlines has it's blemishes. QX's is the list stagnation.

For what it's worth, the last time Alaska interviewed QX people, there was a group of 5 or 6, and all of them got hired. That was followed by an official AS/QX open house at the QX ops center in order to meet/greet the AS people from the Chief Pilot's office as well as the HR department. It seems like at least Alaska is making an effort.

 

[QUOTE= It seems like at least Alaska is making an effort.[/QUOTE]

I guess its in their interest to take the guys on the high end of the pay scale. Helps keep labor costs down at Horizon, which saves Alaska money at the end of the day.

AA are trying the same thing with Eagle, but from what I'm hearing and reading on here, not everyone is taking the bait.

Can't say I blame them either. Starting at the bottom again sucks ass, even at a major / legacy.

 

Sort of. The problem is that the QX pilot group is so senior that even if a captain leaves, the person that upgrades to take that spot is on 12th year pay anyway. That's not far off from the top of the pay-scale. Now if they hire a new FO to replace the upgrade... after the first year, that FO isn't too far from the top of the FO scale. The amount of turnover this place would have to have in order to see some cost savings from the pay-scale standpoint is staggering.

Not to mention that if Alaska hires a QX person, they've basically created the costs of up to three training events, instead of only one if they hired someone outside of AAG.