Airline Pilot Central Forums - What's happening at Horizon and Jets?

Airline Pilot Central Forums (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/)

- Horizon Air (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/horizon-air/)

- - What's happening at Horizon and Jets? (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/horizon-air/91360-whats-happening-horizon-jets.html)

I'd be ok with a seat lock in the Q if ANC stays a Q base. What are the chances of that?

Want me to guess? I'd say good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alaskadrifter (Post 2065269)

I'd be ok with a seat lock in the Q if ANC stays a Q base. What are the chances of that?

You'll never fly in ANC as a junior FO. You'll be permanently on reserve but you'll never get called...if you actually want to fly it's a bad idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meekrob (Post 2065482)

You'll never fly in ANC as a junior FO. You'll be permanently on reserve but you'll never get called...if you actually want to fly it's a bad idea.

Junior lineholder in ANC is a March 2014 hire. Since the base is so small up there reserve is truly reserve and there to cover sick calls and emergencies. I hear reserve there gets called less than any other base, and that's saying something because on reserve in BOI you can fly less than 200 hours a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meekrob (Post 2065482)

You'll never fly in ANC as a junior FO. You'll be permanently on reserve but you'll never get called...if you actually want to fly it's a bad idea.

Most of the ANC fo's will be upgrading soon so for a little while fo's will see movement. However, unless they expand the base the captain movement will be glacial.

So, MFR is rumored to be on the chopping block? Any guess as to when finalized base plans will come out?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petethedog (Post 2065595)

So, MFR is rumored to be on the chopping block? Any guess as to when finalized base plans will come out?

If any base was ever going to be closed, it would be MFR. They won't announce anything until the jet order is finalized and even then the bean counters will take forever before they make a decision.

MFR is a very stagnant base. FO's hired around this time last year are still 1-3 spots from the bottom. There's no movement at all. You can expect to fly maybe 200-300 hours there a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nederlander (Post 2065129)

Mfr is rumored to be on the chopping block. 30 firm jets are on the way but will be spread out over 5 years and with the q400 being taken off line there is a grand total of 0 growth. If you are hired after the jets arrive (sometime in 2017) you will fly this jet but not if you are hired before. The company knows this and has tried to give new guys bonus money but the union had shut this idea down many times(Guys making over 100k shut it down) if you go to horizon you will likely do what I did and move to compass or somewhere else. I recommend coming here.

I agree. I left QX in December and am currently in the sim at Compass. I was at QX just shy of a year.

Heard they might be pulling the Q from SCC service, any truth to that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petethedog (Post 2065094)

Thanks Phteven.... Good points all. So, new hires go into the Q for a 4 year seat lock? I can certainly imagine an exodus from the Q if the schedule quality declines. A four year seat lock in the Q with poor schedules would make me scratch this option of the list (even though we would love to live near MFR and I like Alaska and Horizon products)....

That's just it though. There is no 'exodus' from the Q if you're an FO here. Once on the Q, always on the Q.

You will upgrade on the q400 before your 4 year seat lock expires. You will then be seatlocked as a Captain for 2 years, however no one will be able to hold E175 CA seniority unless you've been here for 15 years. So unless you want to bypass your captain upgrade to be an FO on the 175 (after 4 years), you ain't flying a jet here.

So if you decide to come to Horizon before February 2017, you will be stuck on the Q400 forever until you get picked up my a major or can survive 15 years without offing yourself with the 8 leg day PBS Q400 schedule.

It's possible all of the Q's will be parked in the future if Alaska decides to exercise its 30+ options, but that won't happen until 5+ years from now. We're getting 12 jets in 2017, and then its rumored to be 10 more per year until we get to 30. Then we will be right back at the negotiating table facing concessions again if we want to keep the 30 we have and get the other 30 options.

My advice to any prospective airline pilot: Do NOT come to Horizon. Go to Compass or Skywest and enjoy the better QOL and pay you get on the jets there with their west coast bases. After 2017 we won't have anything special about us, SAP will be gone, ****ty PBS will be here. We've agreed to concessions and will become like everyone else.