FYI, the CA jet bases at Skywest are fairly senior. Currently all new hires are getting ORD and MKE, although DEN, SLC and FAT are available within a few months.

Horizon LOVES UND grads. I'd look em up down the road when you're ready to apply and see how things look over there. I've met a handful of people there who are willing to put up with a laundry list of [their own] complaints simply so they can be based in Seattle or Portland.

A couple of months ago I sat next to a SEA based United FO. 15 years with the company and he can't hold CA. I'd call that senior.

As mentioned above, you're probably getting a little ahead of yourself, but it's good to have an idea of what you're getting into. Get your degree (in something you're interested in - even if it's outside of aviation), get your ratings, and enjoy the journey. There will be plenty of time to think about things like commuting and seniority lists down the road.

 

Seattle is a tough place to commute from unless you live in base. Also, consider companies with commuter clause. SkyWest, despite all CA bases, doesn't have the commuting policy. I have never got a chance to work there and see how anal screw scheduling is but in the words of one ground instructor 'you have to be there'.
I have an interview coming up with Republic and i will have to turn down the job if they offer me something that i cannot even commute. (SDF, CMH, etc).
I was turned down by Horizon last year and have no intentions of applying this year.
Mesaba turned me down at the application level which sucked because MSP/DTW commute wouldn't be bad. (Long commute is fine because you can catch some ZZs).

In my case I cannot move outside of Seattle for two major reasons:
- I own a local business.
- I have been waiting for my citizenship for a year and moving resets the whole process. Given the wait time of 2-3 years now, i am staying put in Seattle.

 

Interesting. UND would even save me money over Embry despite the huge scholarship Embry gave me. And I used to consider Horizon as a way into the industry. And Alaska DOES say they'll consider applicants who have 2000 SIC at Horizon. Horizon would keep me flying in nice territory (West Coast).
I was thinking the exact same thing. I thought Horizon pilots must have it good. Looking at their payscales, a longtime Horizon captain could make six figures. BUT, what if things change and Horizon pilots get a crappy contract shoved down their throats? My ONLY issue with the longer regional time is that going to a major I would basically start off back at the bottom. The starting pay for Alaska and United is only $4 more per hour than starting pay at Horizon.

Time will tell. I was leaning toward UND for years, then considered ERAU after visiting the campus and getting accepted there. I have a month or two to decide.

 

ComeFlyWithMe, screw both and go to a local FBO where you can get your ratings/licenses cheap. It's the flight time that counts when you apply for an airline not as much where you graduated from.. Unless you have the money stashed for ERAU or UND, i highly recommend against it. PM me if you like.

 

Go to UND. You WILL NOT regret it. I got out of UND with a degree and all my ratings for around $40,000. Thats about 1 semester at Riddle. I love it when I fly with captains or jumpseaters who went to Riddle who are still paying $800/mo in student loans. That's more than my mortgage!!! So why those guys are still paying for their Riddle experience (which most are not positive about), I bought a house. Also, I don't know if you are of the male or female persuasion but for guys, the ratio at Riddle is WAY WAY off. Like 20 guys for every homely girl. Whereas at UND, there are FAR more nursing, education, communications and art majors than there are aviation majors. You do the math.

If you have any questions about UND or my experience, feel free to PM me.

PS
Everyone gets into Riddle if their credit score is good enough

 

This is what I did. I earned my BA in Business from UW Seattle, earned my private at Harvey Field in Snohomish and my other ratings at a small flight school in Dallas. This was a fun and adventurous route for me, and I wouldn't do it any other way.

Unless you're hellbent on holding an aviation degree, consider other options that might cost you less. I've heard terrific things about UND too. Just make your decision carefully and knowledgeably. From what I've heard, you'll want to avoid Riddle altogether. I've met too many people with the same exact job as myself who have three times the Sallie Mae payment.

 

Commuting is not bad depending on where you are commuting to, and how often. You can commute from Seattle to anywhere, but the farther away you are going to work, the more difficult it will be. It also makes a difference how frequent the flights are to where you are going to work. If you are commuting to Anchorage or Spokane from Seattle, there are about 25 flights a day that can take you back and forth. If you are commuting to Raleigh Durham, your choices go down to just a few flights a day, and two or three legs to get you there. One leg to your destination with some frequency in the schedule will make commuting easy. You will be able to jumpseat on almost any carrier if the carrier you are working for has CASS.