looking for a little advice.

[montanapilot]

A little background info about me. I am 24, a CFI/MEI with 1000ish/100 multi, have a 2 year degree. Live in Portland, Oregon and I don't wanna leave. I have a great instructing job at a tiny country airport, great money and enough students to keep me busy. My family and girlfriend are here in Portland too, so i definitely wanna go with a carrier that is within a reasonable commuting distance.

I interviewed at Horizon in November and the interview process went pretty well I thought. I made it to the Sim portion of the interview but didn't fly it well enough for them. However, they said i was on the borderline so they wanted me to come back 1 week later and fly it again. So December 12th i went and got additional sim practice and nailed it. The next morning I got a call from the Asst Chief Pilot offering me a job. Of course I accepted it and had a class date for Dec 17th for the Q200.

Later that afternoon I takeoff for Salt Lake to go interview at Skywest while on my way to SLC I get a call from the Head of HR for Horizon. She said I interviewed very well and was a well qualified applicant, However Horizon is unable to offer you employment at this time. She would not give me any sort of reason or clue as to why. I called the Asst and Chief pilots however none of the would give me any sort of reason. Lamar was actually quite an ass about it but whatever. I thanked them for their time.

I ended up getting about 1 hour of sleep that night and go and completely bomb the SkyWest interview, i was first in the SIM and completely screwed up the hold and didn't even make it beyond that part. It was my own fault and the fact that i felt like if i shut my eyes more than 2 seconds i would have fallen asleep right there. The interviewer said they liked my personality and told me to please apply in 6 months.


I have boiled it down to 2 options:

Keep on teaching, hold off on applying at other airlines, and go to school.

Because i made so little money last year before i started instructing i applied for a financial aid and was awarded grants that would be enough for me to go to school for 1 year for free. I've been accepted to UVSC and i could instruct on the side while going to school.

or

Apply at some more airlines hopefully be able to stay on the west coast, and get my degree later.

I have applied to ASA and Great Lakes. No word from ASA yet. However, I was called an offered an interview at Lakes on the 18th of Jan. I am really torn as to weather to go to it or not. The only good thing i can think of with Lakes is the upgrade time, i would be a Captain as soon as i get ATP mins. I would have to fly myself to Denver to get to the interview. No pay during training, $7500 dollar non-prorated training contract, and $16 dollars an hour to start.



Part of this is just venting/ranting, but i was wondering if anybody had any input as to what you would do in a situation such as this. Thanks.

[av8sean]

I feel your pain. I'm a west coaster myself, but the options are really tough out there. Skywest and Horizon were pretty much your best and only options. You can try to get with Eagle, they have a base in LAX. You should consider being a bit more flexible on living location... You can always visit family on holidays, and make your girlfriend move (or just be single/long distance).

[UND_Flyer]

montanapilot I also feel your pain. I'm also a West side guy as well, and I love living out here. I've been doing a two leg commute to Cincinnati, and it sucks, but I guess any commute is worth it if you don't want to live in base. Sorry your interviews with Horizon and SkyWest didn't go so well. I've been there. ExpressJet out of ONT/LAX would also be an option for you, but I know XJT has no new-hire classes until at least April. No sure about the whole Great Lakes thing. It's pretty though to live on $16/hr. I recently had a friend leave GL for XJT who commutes from SEA to LAX. I guess you could build more time and look into some 135 outfits out West or maybe into some charter/corporate flying. Good Luck!

[Pietrantonio]

Keep that faith! I'm really sorry to hear about the Horizon and Skywest interview, and the outcomes, but everything happens for a reason. You're times are great, and I wish you the best when the next interview comes around. Best of luck montanapilot.

[wrxpilot]

Originally Posted by montanapilot

Part of this is just venting/ranting, but i was wondering if anybody had any input as to what you would do in a situation such as this. Thanks.

That's weird about Horizon. So nobody's returning calls? Was there anything that could've been a problem on the background or employment history check? If so, they might be ambiguous for legal reasons.

I can understand wanting to stick around your area, but that can be tough to do with aviation. I grew up in Colorado and love it there. I'm big into snowboarding, motorcycling, mountain biking, etc. Also had a cool girl there. But ended up leaving all of that last spring to work in FL (as a CFI of all things). I realized awhile ago that location is one thing that pretty much has to be sacrificed in order to move forward in this career.

I know a lot of people have "paid their dues" via Great Lakes, but quite frankly that place needs to make some big changes in order to look attractive. With your times, why not apply to Republic or something? Not being paid for training, then being paid 16$/hr while being abused is complete BS. I'd absolutely love to be able to move back to my hometown, and have thought about GL many times. But that is SO not worth it to me. Besides, screw these companies that treat pilots like that.

Recently I ended up in a 135 charter outfit that seems ok. At least it seems better than GL, though it does mean more of south FL (augh!).

[OldTownPilot]

Ameriflight in PDX?

I don't know man. In Vegas you were all gung ho about SkyWest. Thats weird how you were offered a Horizon class and then had it taken back.

[dc3flyer]

Originally Posted by OldTownPilot

Ameriflight in PDX?

Get 200 more hours and go do some real flying!!!!

[GaTechKid]

I don't know what exactly I would do in your situation, but I definately wouldn't turn down a free year in school to work for Great Mistakes.

[DE727UPS]

"Keep on teaching, hold off on applying at other airlines, and go to school."

You're gonna need to go to school one way or another. Could you do that equally well while working for Amflight, ASA, Great Lakes, or instructing? Does it really matter? If you wanna stay in PDX that bad, I'd say Amflight is your best bet and keep bugging QX. What's up with QX?

In the end, and you know this, you'll need a degree to get a top tier job. So, take that as a given and lets re-evaluate your options.

[Hootie]

Go to AMF for 6-10 months then apply again to QX or Skywest. If you wanna live out west, don't even bother with those other places.

[racemey]

Really sorry to hear how this all played out for you. I was really pulling for you to get the Horizon job. I had an interview lined up for December 19 with them but decided to cancel a few days before because I felt I needed more time to prepare. Now I see on their website under the "Hot Jobs" section that the pilot job is no longer listed. I talked to a FA friend of mine at Horizon who told me they just cancelled 2 classes partly due to the age 65 thing, so maybe that is a possible explanation. Anyway you look at it, it still stinks you were offered the job then had it taken back.

I am in a pretty similar situation with a great instructing job, have nearly 1200 hours but only 50 multi and really want to stay on the west coast. I am hoping to try Skywest when I get the multi time. I also looked at GL and was offered an interview but declined for the reasons you listed. The upgrade there was the only possible reason I would consider it, but even with that it looks prettly horrible.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably try for the Amflight gig out of Portland and get the degree. I would do that if I didn't have kids. Keep your head up. You will be fine.

[Aero_Engineer]

Amerifligth is a great option, build some more time and apply to them. The word on the street is they are hurting for pilots so go ahead it should be a fun job.
You'll actually perfect your flying skills, get more multi time, even get turbine time and you can also go to school on the side. The pay is even not that bad compared to all other regionals out there well not including QX.

[Nihon_Ni]

Originally Posted by montanapilot

Later that afternoon I takeoff for Salt Lake to go interview at Skywest while on my way to SLC I get a call from the Head of HR for Horizon... I ended up getting about 1 hour of sleep that night and go and completely bomb the SkyWest interview....

Next time turn your phone off when you leave for an interview so you can compartmentalize.

Years ago, we actually had to be home to make a phone call!

Rob

[nshepherd]

Newbie here! The whole horizon deal was like looking in the mirror. I too am trying to stick in the portland area. choices are really only horizon. Skywest is fairly senior and I don't think they are hiring into the brasilia, certainly not into PDX domicile.
I was the only one of 4 in a december horizon interview to get to the sim, only to blow it. I even prepped in the frasca. I was told I'd be invited back for a retry but wasn't. I was pretty bummed, but the age 65 comment makes some sense. A friend of mine flies for Horizon and said they would likely freeze hiriing for a while!
I had an inerview scheduled this week with Skywest but got kicked off the flight on the way to SLC for not being properly authorized. Bags made it though. I think I'll ask for a raincheck until I can move to a different domicile with GF and dog!
In the meantime....I think I'll try ameriflight. Anyone know if they do day runs as well as night?

[jtrain609]

Originally Posted by montanapilot

A little background info about me. I am 24, a CFI/MEI with 1000ish/100 multi, have a 2 year degree. Live in Portland, Oregon and I don't wanna leave. I have a great instructing job at a tiny country airport, great money and enough students to keep me busy. My family and girlfriend are here in Portland too, so i definitely wanna go with a carrier that is within a reasonable commuting distance.

I interviewed at Horizon in November and the interview process went pretty well I thought. I made it to the Sim portion of the interview but didn't fly it well enough for them. However, they said i was on the borderline so they wanted me to come back 1 week later and fly it again. So December 12th i went and got additional sim practice and nailed it. The next morning I got a call from the Asst Chief Pilot offering me a job. Of course I accepted it and had a class date for Dec 17th for the Q200.

Later that afternoon I takeoff for Salt Lake to go interview at Skywest while on my way to SLC I get a call from the Head of HR for Horizon. She said I interviewed very well and was a well qualified applicant, However Horizon is unable to offer you employment at this time. She would not give me any sort of reason or clue as to why. I called the Asst and Chief pilots however none of the would give me any sort of reason. Lamar was actually quite an ass about it but whatever. I thanked them for their time.

I ended up getting about 1 hour of sleep that night and go and completely bomb the SkyWest interview, i was first in the SIM and completely screwed up the hold and didn't even make it beyond that part. It was my own fault and the fact that i felt like if i shut my eyes more than 2 seconds i would have fallen asleep right there. The interviewer said they liked my personality and told me to please apply in 6 months.


I have boiled it down to 2 options:

Keep on teaching, hold off on applying at other airlines, and go to school.

Because i made so little money last year before i started instructing i applied for a financial aid and was awarded grants that would be enough for me to go to school for 1 year for free. I've been accepted to UVSC and i could instruct on the side while going to school.

or

Apply at some more airlines hopefully be able to stay on the west coast, and get my degree later.

I have applied to ASA and Great Lakes. No word from ASA yet. However, I was called an offered an interview at Lakes on the 18th of Jan. I am really torn as to weather to go to it or not. The only good thing i can think of with Lakes is the upgrade time, i would be a Captain as soon as i get ATP mins. I would have to fly myself to Denver to get to the interview. No pay during training, $7500 dollar non-prorated training contract, and $16 dollars an hour to start.



Part of this is just venting/ranting, but i was wondering if anybody had any input as to what you would do in a situation such as this. Thanks.

Move to Utah, ski with me and Emily, go to the U, marry a mormon chick.

That'll be $53.

[JayAre]

Originally Posted by jtrain609

Move to Utah, ski with me and Emily, go to the U, marry a mormon chick.

That'll be $53.

your funny

[Ophir]

Originally Posted by DE727UPS

"Keep on teaching, hold off on applying at other airlines, and go to school."

You're gonna need to go to school one way or another. Could you do that equally well while working for Amflight, ASA, Great Lakes, or instructing? Does it really matter? If you wanna stay in PDX that bad, I'd say Amflight is your best bet and keep bugging QX. What's up with QX?

In the end, and you know this, you'll need a degree to get a top tier job. So, take that as a given and lets re-evaluate your options.

I think Don nailed here Kelly. That is great advice, IMHO. Give me a ring if you wanna chat more about it. -Chuck

[aerospacepilot]

Originally Posted by montanapilot

Keep on teaching, hold off on applying at other airlines, and GO TO SCHOOL.

Go to school and get a 4 year college degree.

You can still stay in pacific northwest and CFI (and make good money) on the side. When you graduate, Horizon and Skywest will still be hiring. Trust me.