Horizon Air

Horizon Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group operating as Alaska Horizon, flying an all-Embraer E175 fleet across the Pacific Northwest, California, the Rocky Mountain states and western Canada. It feeds Alaska Airlines' network from a base structure centred on Seattle-Tacoma and Portland.

Flying for Horizon Air

Horizon hires First Officers at 1,500 hours total time or with a restricted ATP, needing 500 hours cross-country — or 200 for R-ATP or military-qualified candidates — alongside 250 hours pilot-in-command including 100 cross-country and 25 night, 75 hours instrument and 25 hours multi-engine, with 100 preferred. It also runs a Pilot Development Program that pays participants a $12,500 stipend with mentoring from line pilots, and places graduates on a class date and the fastest available path to mainline flying at Alaska.

The published minimums are unusually detailed, which makes the logbook side of an application largely mechanical — either the hours are there or they are not. What remains discretionary is the assessment: aptitude and personality testing, a technical interview and a simulator evaluation, and that is where preparation changes the outcome.