Horizon

Roger Roger said:
It's not a prop vs jet thing, it's a pay/QOL thing. Shoot I'd gladly fly any of those frames for pay comparable to what I make now (or even less pay with a better schedule). The prop may have a little to do with it in that the smaller aircraft may have a little less potential to generate enough revenue to make the pilot pay pot sweet, but it's at most a contributing not deciding factor/
Click to expand...
Sadly you're in the minority. Most people want to fly a shiny jet. Right now we have about the highest paid captains in the regionals and we still can't get people. Our first officers are way yo there too
 
ASpilot2be said:
Sadly you're in the minority. Most people want to fly a shiny jet. Right now we have about the highest paid captains in the regionals and we still can't get people. Our first officers are way yo there too
Click to expand...
Y'all work too hard from what I hear. And I don't mean flying a dirty old turboprop, I mean days off and schedule on your days on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bp
JDean3204 said:
Piedmont, Commutair, and Penair would like a word.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected.. Im sure those airline new are having a hard time filling classes as well[/QUOTE]

CommutAir certainly is, and we cancelled one of the classes we were going to run in May. I don't think Turboprops have much to do with it though (most if not all new hires will be going to the ERJ from now on), it's pay and cost of living like you said earlier. We pay even less than Horizon and our bases are in even more expensive cities. I don't think Piedmont is having much trouble filling classes since they pay quite decently for a regional with the bonuses they recently introduced.
 
ASpilot2be said:
Sadly you're in the minority. Most people want to fly a shiny jet. Right now we have about the highest paid captains in the regionals and we still can't get people. Our first officers are way yo there too
Click to expand...

How much are guys actually making?
 
I've been getting a lot of texts from friends at OO saying they are picking up the slack with the extra jets they have. I wouldn't be surprised if AAG continues to award OO more flying and airframes out of SEA/PDX. That will be their bandaid to the problem I'm sure, especially after they passed the new contract and have locked themselves into competitive rates to acquire more flying.
 
Last edited:
Since no one asked me, I see all of this as a " Growth " problems and not necessarily going out of business problems. So, on the whole, this isn't, necessarily, as bad as, parking airplanes and shrinking routes as we furlough and go out of business. I'd bet a few beers that it went something like, " These are the projected number for next summer, can you guys do that?" "Sure we can do that, looks good to us". There were a lot of fancy spreadsheets and numbers that looked really good in the meeting, then the reality of the operation, the new contract, and the new toy and rolled over in bed...and suddenly in the morning light, you realized you made a very very big mistake. Nothing recoverable, you used protection, gave it cash for a cab, and said, "ill never do that again". Pretty sure that is how this whole summer came to be. One big drunken spreasheet haze. We've all been there and most don't have VD or offspring from it. If anyone remembers, this happened before, two years ago, just after the arrival of this management team, same reset, and life goes on. They aren't operations folks and some don't have a good grasp of reality, like that stalker ex girlfriend that keeps watching me from the bushes...but then again, I do have an audience, might as well put on a little show.
Things will have to get much, much worse before we see the end of the company. The good news is, as goes QX so goes AS. Lots of people go to SEA and PDX and LAX but many more people go to smaller places that only QX flies. Kill QX and there isn't anyone right now that has the capacity to supplement that feed. It would take a while to get pilots retrained on a new certificate, unless it was bought, by someone with deep pockets. AS financials are pretty solid and have deep reserves to keep the business afloat. I don't think you'd want to intentionally mess with labor in this market, but what do I know. Then again, I'm an optomist...and like earning money.
However, this might be some tactict to get the FAA to resend the 1500 hr rule and all that extra regulation around piots. As crazy as it sounds, that is possible. I remember something about the government can't regulate a business so much that it can't make a profit. This would be a messed up way to do that. However, AAG has a history of protesting regulation to promote its business venture. So, let the business fail, Chapter 11, reorganize the company, split off ground and customer services into McGee and all the toys go under AS proper. Gets them out of all their current labor contracts, consolidates and emerges stronger than before. Buys Jet Blue for East Coast basing and JFK slots. Crazy but not that crazy. Like that woman out side my window.
 
pdxcfi said:
@Nark
Up to my eyeballs in cobra whiskey and ladyboi hookers...or was that deployment? Nevermind...It doesn't matter
Click to expand...


Oh to be on deployment again... :)

You make great points, and as skeptic as most are I feel the same way. They cannot let it go too far unless a thought process of relaxing current standards is in mind. In which if the Colgan family movement has any say in it won't happen, as they have a good amount of pull within the government to keep the rules up whether we agree or not the standards are arbitrary.
 
Last edited:
Passed my LOE a few days ago! The training at Horizon was definitely top notch, everyone seemed to care about you grasping the concepts and being able to understand the airplane and operations.

Just waiting for IOE now, then it's time to start building that log book up once again!
 
JDean3204 said:
Passed my LOE a few days ago! The training at Horizon was definitely top notch, everyone seemed to care about you grasping the concepts and being able to understand the airplane and operations.

Just waiting for IOE now, then it's time to start building that log book up once again!
Click to expand...
Good luck man. With all the flying that just got dumped on us I hope things get straightened out over there. It appears that building time should not be an issue.
 
word302 said:
Good luck man. With all the flying that just got dumped on us I hope things get straightened out over there. It appears that building time should not be an issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am hearing there is no such thing as sitting Reserve right now, that works for me!
 
pdxcfi said:
Lots of people go to SEA and PDX and LAX but many more people go to smaller places that only QX flies. Kill QX and there isn't anyone right now that has the capacity to supplement that feed. It would take a while to get pilots retrained on a new certificate, unless it was bought, by someone with deep pockets.
Click to expand...

What? 52 Qs and 6 E 175s? Horizon is easily replaceable by Air Group if that's what they really wanted. Although regionals are desperate for pilots, all it takes is a continual upshift of flying from regionals to mainline and then you have a bunch of RJs and a bunch of pilots sitting around. Air Wisconsin just got saved by switching their entire flying from AA to UA express. Never underestimate a mainline's ability to utterly crush one regional operation, shift flying/capacity elsewhere to another regional, or back within mainline, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top