elmetal
Ain't nobody got time for that
Sucks that the cancelations are there but hey good news for pilots!
Horizon interview
- Thread starter ndakcfi
- Start date
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
Ten years ago? With all due respect, have you heard of Menzies yet? Alaska fired all the rampers and replaced them with this contract company called Menzies Aviation. I'm still a big fan of Air Group and the brand but this typical corporate america move just proves what's wrong with corporate america. But I digress....
Good luck with your interview and I understand the pull of God's country. Just be ready to answer this one: You have significant corporate jet PIC time and experience. Will you leave Horizon if offered a similar job locally which pays as much as a 10 year Captain at Horizon? Have a good rebuttal for that one....
pete2800
'Member?
I hate questions like that. Turning down that job opportunity would be a demonstration of extremely poor decision making. Why would an airline hire a pilot who makes horrible decisions? Alas...
Flying Forester
Well-Known Member
Ha ha!
Well, I've already been turned down three times by the one corporate operator in the Northwest that I would want to work for. And I had really, really good advocacy from in-house at that department. Could be God telling me I'm supposed to be somewhere else.
My answer would be inclusive of considering my family, my goals and my quality of life. Indeed money talks, but so do really great benefits. I need to feed my family and pay my bills, but the benefit of being able to travel to visit my wife's family in Florida and for them to come see us at no cost is priceless. Additionally, the long term effects on quality of life are far more promising than corporate operations where the company could sell the airplane any day.
In all honesty, I already make what a 5-10 year captain would make at QX, hard as that is to give up, this job is not good place for someone my age. My boss (the owner of the airplane and a REALLY good guy) is approaching his mid-70's, meaning, as nice as this operation is, this is not a long term place for a guy my age. We also don't fly enough to allow me to be come competitive to different (read: bigger/better equipment, desirable locale, etc...) departments. As good as these people are, it's time to go home and move on to the next great thing. Horizon, while it would be a HUGE pay cut initially stands to be a more rewarding career in the long run. And my wife loves the idea of being able to travel and see her family more easily thanks to the flight benefits.
It's give and take, but if I received such an offer it would be a tough call. In reality I think I would be giving up more by leaving QX than I would gain by joining a corporate department No two corporate flight departments are the same so it would LITERALLY be case-by-case, I can't give a blanket answer. An offer from some guy with an old citation who owns a chain of mattress stores will not be the same (or as attractive) as an offer from say, Nordstrom or Vulcan (Paul Allen's outfit...#GoSeahawks!)
You get my drift...but you have a great point! Good question.
Oh and yes, I have heard of Menzies. Not long after I left Alaska switched to Menzies, but Horizon stayed with their own non-union line crews. Has that changed?
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Apparently Horizon has changed the sim portion of the interview substantially from what I posted on here.
The people in charge of hiring realized that the sim profile took way too long (30-45 minutes per applicant), the process to grade it was getting too complex, and since QX doesn't fly any "dive and drive" approaches, evaluating how well someone flew VOR approaches wasn't a great indicator of how they'd do flying here. From what I've been told the new profile is basically a takeoff, some basic maneuvers (maybe a DP or SID), then an ILS approach. I have no idea if holding is still on there, but it sounds like the new profile is a lot less stressful than the old one.
The people in charge of hiring realized that the sim profile took way too long (30-45 minutes per applicant), the process to grade it was getting too complex, and since QX doesn't fly any "dive and drive" approaches, evaluating how well someone flew VOR approaches wasn't a great indicator of how they'd do flying here. From what I've been told the new profile is basically a takeoff, some basic maneuvers (maybe a DP or SID), then an ILS approach. I have no idea if holding is still on there, but it sounds like the new profile is a lot less stressful than the old one.
Flying Forester
Well-Known Member
That sounds great! While I believe you, it would be great to confirm this from someone who did it that way.
Doesn't hurt to be prepared either way. I would agree that the profile seemed inconsistent with the type of flying one would be doing.
Then again, it wouldn't kill me to get a little refresher on flying with raw-data.
Doesn't hurt to be prepared either way. I would agree that the profile seemed inconsistent with the type of flying one would be doing.
Then again, it wouldn't kill me to get a little refresher on flying with raw-data.
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Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Nothing.
elmetal
Ain't nobody got time for that
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
My wife's family were investors and close friends with Milt so I have some bias
I wish they were still flying the Fokkers.
elmetal
Ain't nobody got time for that
Haha well hopefully it works for them. I worry they can too easily be cornered eagle style.My wife's family were investors and close friends with Milt so I have some bias
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
My wife's family were investors and close friends with Milt so I have some bias
Ahh the Fokkers. I love the sound of a Rolls Royce Dart engine on the ground (F-27). As for the F-28, I rode on the jumpseat once and I could hear air passing through the seals of the emergency escape hatch right above my head. Just glad it wasn't raining on the ground...
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Forgot about the jets!
elmetal
Ain't nobody got time for that
Sim is changed. From my interview 9 days ago it's: takeoff RH , radar vectors with climbs and descents, intercept localizer shoot ILS and go missed. No tuning radios, no identifying, or tracking or holding. No failures. They give you vr, cruise, appch speed, climb speed, flap and gear speeds (and tell you to be ready for the appch by the FAF as far as gear and flaps)
That's really it. Very straight forward.
elmetal
Ain't nobody got time for that
Heard about it. But they did away with all day. Very simple ride
