Alaska Hiring

[ferlo]

Does anybody know if Alaska is still actively interviewing/hiring? The plan a few months back was full blown hiring into the foreseeable future. That sounds pretty optomistic these days. Are they still hiring?

 

[qxeplt]

Sure Sounds Like It...

I have a fellow Horizon bud just got a call two days ago for an upcoming interview.

Good luck...

 

[Alaskaairlines]

With all the new destination being added, I don't see why not and hire more qualified pilots.

What did the Horizon pilot come out of? And, was he FO or Captain?

 

[qxeplt]

Alaska hiring Horizon Pilots

In the last year or so, Alaksa has taken quite a few Horizon pilots. I believe all of them have been CA and most seem to be Dash 8 drivers. I've known 90 percent of the ones who have left and they all seem to have at least one and a half to four years as Captain experience with Horizon. You never see senior guys go or guys flying the RJ. I would say Alaska likes the Dash guys fairly new to upgrade and yes the one I was refering to is a Dash CA with about 2 years CA time.

 

[boeingdriver213]

I was told by an Alaskan pilot that hiring is slow but steady, sort of. He said 6-8 to a class. Supposedly each class has 1 or 2 Horizon guys in it also. Referrals still important, and checked thoroughly.

 

[Alaskawannabe]

This is right from the Chief Pilot's newsletter dated 12/21/02:

"PILOT HIRING
We have just about completed our hiring for next year. We have some interviews scheduled in January and this will fill all the classes for 2003. We are not accepting any more applications. We have about 80 people on our active list. It is our intention to continue to interview from this list and develop a pool of approximately 50 pilots for any further possibilities next year. But for now, we’ve just about filled the classes for next year. Our Pilot referrals are doing well, but we do need to tighten our screening up a bit. Remember, only the best, not just folks looking for a job. I will be posting the updated minimum requirements on my conference very soon."

Looks like it will be pretty slow there for awhile.

 

[mach none]

We are still planning a net gain of 7 a/c in 03 and a net gain of 6 in 04. Yes, it will be slow and conservative growth. But we are still planning on growing.
The only wild cards are Iraq, and UAL/US. They could spir or completely stop the growth plans.

 

[Alaskaairlines]

So my guess would be that Horizon is a stepping stone to Alaska?

 

[Singlecoil]

So my guess would be that Horizon is a stepping stone to Alaska?

That's a bigger question than you realize. Historically, a lot of pilots have gone from Horizon to Alaska, however there have been times when the spigot was turned off for a couple of years. The valve is open right now and both pilot groups seem to view that as a good thing. Morale has certainly improved at the big H.
That being said, the top 200, or top third of Horizon pilots, don't seem to be interested in going anywhere. Many are retired military with pensions that are happy sitting where they are. You need 750 PIC turbine right now to get hired at Alaska, and it takes about 4-5 years at Horizon to get that. You can get that a lot faster at Skywest and they do hire Skywest , Comair, etc. pilots. I would take a wild guess and say about 50% of the FO's at Horizon are from the University of North Dakota, and are not originally from the northwest. Its hard to say what percentage of those are more interested in Northwest Airlines or United to be based closer to home. I know, those guys aren't hiring right now, but by the time a pilot gets 750 PIC turbine, they might be.

 

[qxeplt]

Caution

It is not a guarantee that Horizon will get you to Alaska. It's only been a short time ago where flying for Horizon almost hurt your chances at Alaska and it is possible when things get back to normal it could be that way again. Here's what I mean. Before 9/11 Alaska was hardly taking any Horizon guys, you had a better chance at Alaska by being with say Skywest. You being part of the Alaska Air Group at Horizon was one training expense Alaska paid for, so why hire you at Alaska, pay for another training cycle again and them also have to pay an additional training cycle to replace you at Horizon. In other words to hire one from Horizon overall cost them 3 training cycles (1 you for Horizon Initial, 2 you for Alaska Initial, and 3 to replace you at Horizon). If Alaska hires from other than Horizon it only costs them 1 training cycle. It's just business and that's why we at Horizon got the shaft. Great Lakes and Skywest guys were heading over there in droves but not us Horizon pukes. You would think they would want us since we were already part of the Air Group and knew the operation better than most. They could access and check up on us in a way they couldn't do with other applicants. (ex. check sick time usage, disciplinary problems, ect). Why wouldn't they want to take pilots from a known and credible source? Again it had to be the money.

Now after 9/11, it's a different story. Will it continue is anyones guess. After 9/11, Horizon furloughed a number of pilots and downgraded pilots back to FO positions. Alaska and Horizon (which still surprises me today) decided to start interviewing and hiring for Alaska pilot positions from Horizon, for pilots that wished to go to Alaska. This was in an attempt to pull Captains at Horizon in order to get the Horizon furloughed guys and girls back on line. So Alaska started hiring numerous Horizon guys with about a year or so Captain time. I heard, about 2 to 4 Horizon pilots in every Alaska new hire class since they started about a year ago. I have seen most of them go and frankly Alaska got from Horizon some of the best aviators around in return for implementing this program


If I were new would I jump to Horizon to get to Alaska? Nope, I still think they treated us like step children and while they have taken quite a few Horizon pilots, who knows how long it will last. My experience while I was at Horizon was awesome in a lot of respect but you always seemed to be treated differently. Not necessarily good or bad but just different, although I've been told Alaska is just a bigger Horizon just more money and bigger jets. Also, if one chooses Horizon to hopefully move to Alaska to get there fast, it's not going to happen anytime soon. Right now upgrade is taking four or more years. It is a very senior airline, the best I could do was a Dash8 Captain after almost 7 years. Alaska will not touch you as a FO, they want at least 1 to 2 years or around 750 to a 1000 PIC turbine. Between waiting and upgrade that's about 6 years or so before they even look at you, unless daddy works for Alaska and can get you in as an FO from Horizon. You are better off going to Skywest or ASA, or whoever with quick upgrade, get your time and then shoot for Alaska and not have to worry about the training cost issue, whether or not they think you abused your sick time, or had a letter in your file only Alaska would have access to. I still think Alaska and Horizon are great places, especially in today's environment. Beside if you got stuck at Horizon in the process it would be my regional of choice to retire with.

Good luck...