BTSniper

I'm considering Horizon with their direct hire option. I have 8+ years prior Part 141 experience with Part 141 PIC as well and live within an hour of PDX.

I heard it is because of their contract they are unable to hire Direct Entry Captains but may move you out of the FO training and into upgrade class before initial training is complete. Is this correct?

What is their junior base for CA? Their Senior CA base? How long before a new hire captain with zero seniority might expect to get into PDX?

I think I might be better off flying here at Horizon with a shorter commute then say OO, yes?

Regarding their "Prior Part 121 Longevity Pay Credit"

They posted......

We are offering a longevity match for hourly rates with no cap for pilots with prior part 121 experience. Year-for-year longevity pay is contingent upon the pilot maintaining a permanent bid preferencing all Captain positions as his/her highest priority bids.

The way I read this is.... one who is hired with 8+ years of experience would start on the 9 year FO payscale as long as they maintain a permanent bid for upgrade. But...... does this also mean that when upgrade is awarded one will continue on to the 9 year CA payscale too? I want to make sure Horizon doesn't attempt to bump the new CA down to first year pay.

And last.... overall opinion on how things are going at Horizon and how you would feel flying here as a CA on the 9 year pay scale?

Thanks

BT

Seminole00

Is the “141” in the beginning a typo?

DashAviator

I'm going to assume that you meant "Part 121", not "Part 141" in the first part of your post.

The question: Why Horizon? It seems like that with your experience you should just apply to Delta or United. Assuming you still want to go to Horizon, I suspect it would be at least a couple of years before you could get Portland as a base. The junior bases are Anchorage and Medford. Portland has always been very, very senior. If you are able to hold Portland, you'll be on reserve for a LONG time.

It's been a few months since I've worked at Horizon, so I don't have up-to-date information on the upgrade process for pilots with prior Part 121 time. What they used to do was to run qualified pilots through the FO training program, then immediately put them into upgrade training. The total process used to take about six months. I suspect you'll keep your longevity for pay purposes (regardless of which seat), but this is definitely something to ask about.

Overall, I really enjoyed working at Horizon. It's a good company. However, I expect growth to be painfully slow for the next couple of years. The company just got rid of the entire Q400 fleet, and is still trying to get all of the Q400 captains and FO's trained in the jet. The company needs captains, so they'd probably be happy to have you, but training would still take a while because of the backlog of Q400 pilots. As the new guy, you'd be the lowest priority (no insult intended).

BTSniper

Thanks for the quick replies.

Yes, I meant Part 121 time.

Why Horizon? Well, I have 15-20 years left in this career. I have already spent 6 years at an airline commuting and flying east coast and do not enjoy 4am east coast wake up calls. I enjoy being captain. Sure, Delta may have quick upgrades, but I would be forever commuting. I don't need "Legacy" flying and think I would be happy to fly E-175s from the left seat for quite a while.

The worst commute at Horizon is better than a DEC at any of the other regionals where I would be at ORD, IAH, MSP, DFW, MIA or DTW

I am considering Alaska as well, but working the numbers, I am still 3-5 years away from a PDX base at Alaska and 10 years away from Captain and the break-even point for pay flying CA for 10 years at Horizon vs. 10 years of FO pay at Alaska....... might not be very much.

Nine-year captain payscale starting at $179/hr is pretty good money. I don't have a lot of bills and could live comfortably for the rest of my career off current CA reginal pay and not have to worry about flying as an FO. I have been out of the industry for 15 years running my own business, it would be nice to have a steady paycheck again. I can still make money on the side with my business on off days or long stints of reserve sitting at home.

I like the routes Horizon flies. Looks like nearly all same time zone.

I have a "hiccup" on my record that a regional airline "in need of captains" may be able to over look vs. a major that may not.

Eventually I will get PDX and then enjoy driving to work again. Heck, even sitting reserve from home would not be so bad if reserve is at all junior at PDX.

Does CA reserve tend to go senior in PDX?

Of all my choices of regional airlines Horizon seems to make more since then any of the others right now. Jumping right in on the 9 year payscale is pretty enticing. Oh and then there is the $50K 18 month retention bonus.

Maybe I could even be a LCA in near future increasing pay?

I would hope that Horizon will grow their E-175 fleet size and with all the majors hiring there would be some movement on the seniority list. Or is there a number of Captains that have made Horizon their destination airline?

Why does SkyWest fly so much of Alaska's/Horizon's routes? Is it beneficial for Alaska to have SkyWest fly these routes rather then Horizon. Does Horizon have the potential to grow and take over/take back some of this flying that has been given to SkyWest? It would be cool if they did/could. I would bet there are a number of pilots at OO that would rather be flying at Horizon with their WestCoast routes rather than the flying out east.

Wishful thinking but it would be awesome if Horizon could double their E-175 fleet size in the next 5 years and take back the flying that OO is doing for Alaska, in which case I would love to be at Horizon with 2023 hire date.

BT

BTSniper

Ok, so which regional would get me based in PDX the soonest? Horizon or SkyWest?

Of the two, which one would be worse for the time spent commuting before getting PDX based?

What makes either better or worse than the other?

Thanks

BT

DashAviator

BT: I posted a longer reply to your message on the Skywest forum. Here's a couple of other things to consider w/r to Horizon:

(1) Reserve tends to go very junior at Horizon. There's a reason for that. During times when the company is short-staffed (as it is now on the captain side), the reserve captains are literally flying ALL THE TIME. Expect to be used at least 90% of your reserve days. As a reserve captain, I was generally working more than the line holders. This was fun for a while (at least until chronic fatigue sets in), but may not leave you much free time for your non-flying business.

(2) You asked about holding the Portland base as a captain. My best estimate of how long this would take: 2.5 - 3 years from the start of training.

(3) The company is pretty selective with respect to line check airmen. The pay is VERY good. Some of the senior line check airmen are pulling down $300,000 - $500,000 a year (no kidding - at a REGIONAL airline). The down side? It's a lot of work, and the company basically treats you like you're on reserve (even if you're not).

NP12345

I have been looking into this as I am coming back from a period of not flying.

Is it nearly guaranteed that you will be moved into an upgrade class during training going in as a prior qualifying FO if you have the 1000 121 mins?

As of today, is a near-direct entry captain going to be sent to Alaska? or is Seattle holding steady as a junior base? Also are there any commuting clauses or assistance in the contract?

Thanks all!!

akflier

Happy New Year!
I am approaching upgrade mins at my current regional, but want to move back home to ANC. If I came in having upgraded at my current carrier, or just with 1,000 hrs 121 SIC, would I be likely to get assigned ANC CA quickly out of training? (I'm guessing from others' comments that I would train as an FO first, then turn around and train as a CA afterwards?). Does anyone have a link to where Horizon is advertising this? Thanks for your help!

mbhelicopter

Hey, I just private messaged you. I got the information that you’re seeking.

Eagerbeaver

I have the exact same question. PM sent