Horizon pilot recruiter Joanne Williams says her company is “a classy, scrappy regional airline” that has carved out a stable niche in an unstable airline world “by nurturing a caring employee community and focusing our efforts on the very best customer service. Our pilots fly with cutting-edge technology in impeccably maintained aircraft.”
The readers of the Conde Nast Traveler magazine apparently agree with Williams, especially the part about customer service. In 2005, over 10,000 readers who identified themselves as frequent business travelers rated Horizon fifth among carriers with coach-only service. Horizon Air was the only regional airline to make the list, and was highly rated for its food and beverages, cabin service and frequent flyer privileges.
After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, many major airlines abandoned routes within the Northwest. To address this underserved market, entrepreneur Milt Kuolt and a group of venture capitalists founded Horizon in Seattle in September 1981. Horizon started with 36 employees and a fleet consisting of two leased Fairchild F-27 turboprop aircraft to begin service between the Yakima and Pasco (Washington), and Seattle.
Horizon grew rapidly throughout the 1980s. In 1982, the company acquired Air Oregon, which had long served that state. A year later, Horizon bought Utah-based Transwestern Airlines, which served the intermountain West, including Boise, Idaho. Both these acquisitions expanded Horizon’s system map considerably.
In early 1984, Horizon went public with an initial stock offering of 750,000 shares. The sale was an immediate success and was used to retire debt and provide funding for future aircraft acquisition.
By 1986 the company had attracted the attention of larger airlines and was acquired by Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, Inc., a holding company that included Alaska Airlines. While remaining independently managed, Horizon has the advantage of connections with sister carrier Alaska Airlines and partnership in the Mileage Plan frequent flier program. Along with Alaska, Horizon also code-shares with a wide range of other airline partners including American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and LAN.
Horizon Air’s passenger traffic increased 14.8 percent on a 12.1 percent capacity increase in the first quarter of 2006. Horizon’s load factor increased by 1.7 percentage points to 70.7 percent, compared to the same period in 2005. The carrier’s operating revenue per ASM increased 7.6 percent, and its operating costs per ASM excluding fuel decreased 0.1 percent. The airline’s pretax loss for the quarter was $.04 million, compared to income before taxes and the accounting change of $4.6 million in 2005.
Jeff Pinneo is president and CEO of Horizon Air. He has nearly 30 years of aviation experience, more than 25 of them with Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines.
Previously, Pinneo served as vice president, Customer Services at Horizon beginning in 1990. There, he oversaw Horizon’s largest division, which included station operations, in-flight services, security, and food and beverage service.
With over 4,000 employees, Horizon serves 46 cities in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. The company’s corporate offices are in Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Horizon’s fleet includes the Bombardier CRJ-700, Bombardier Q400, and the Bombardier Q200 planes, and the company has plans to add a dozen more Q400s over the next several years.
Williams says the airline’s commitment to state-of-the-art technology is second to none. “We have an active and ongoing commitment to aviation technology. The HGS (Rockwell Collins Head-up Guidance System) is installed on all of our aircraft. Horizon is the first regional airline in the world to incorporate HGS on its entire fleet. All of our aircraft are CAT IIIa qualified, and we are currently single-engine CAT IIIa qualified in all of our Q400s. Our CRJ is pending FAA authorization for single-engine CAT III. The Rockwell-Collins HGS also allows for low visibility take-off with RVR as low as 300 feet, and landing RVR as low as 600/400/400 feet. Horizon was also the first airline in the world to certify and install HGS on a commercial turboprop: the Dash-8/100 aircraft back in 1995.”
Williams continues, “Our fleet is equipped with dual FMS (Flight Management System), dual GPS (Global Positioning System), and single or dual IRS (Inertial Reference System), and is equipped and approved for RNAV-GPS operations.” She also notes that in May, Horizon became the first regional airline in the world to receive final certification from the FAA for RNP (Required Navigation Performance) approach operations in the Dash-8/Q400. This certification allows them to use an RNP value as low as 0.3 nautical miles.
“We are currently evaluating the ability to incorporate WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) as an additional sensor to the FMS in the Dash-8/Q400. This would allow Horizon to dispatch flights using GPS-WAAS as primary means for navigation as well as lower RNP values, and would allow us the ability to utilize LPV (Localizer Precision with Vertical Guidance) minimums on RNAV-GPS approaches,” she says.
“Currently we are working on Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) for our aircraft. Horizon would be the first regional airline in the country (and most likely the world) to install this new technology in all of its aircraft. Our EFB project will incorporate all the normal ACARS functions as well as wireless gate transfer of update data for manuals and charting. Our EFB package will have the additional capability to communicate via SATCOM for data and voice communications.”
Williams has been with the company for five years in the recruiting position. She and chief pilot LaMar Haugaard are responsible for screening and hiring new pilots. She discussed the hiring procedures and benefits of working with the airline.
“As of April 20, 2006, we want everyone to apply online with our new Web site application at www.horizonair.com,” she says. “Those applications are reviewed by LaMar and me and screened for the appropriate technical skills, and then candidates are selected for interviews.” Williams says the airline strongly encourages applicants who have a four-year degree, but will consider those who have the flight time requirements and show significant progress toward a degree and the intentions of completing it within a reasonable time.
“We want to be sure to hire people who are aligned with our shared values,” she adds, “because if they are, they are going to be a lot happier here over the long run.”
Williams discussed the interview sequence. “None of the interviews are done in a group. Each pilot meets separately with the Chief Pilot’s office (usually LaMar Haugaard and Terry Allen), HR (usually me), and a line pilot for technical oral review. There is no specific order to this; our goal is to make the process as time-efficient as possible. So, they don’t necessarily see the Chief Pilot’s office (Haugaard’s) last.”
Williams stresses that applicants shouldn’t try to avoid mentioning past mistakes during the interview. “I think it’s important for candidates to go ahead and bring up any blemishes they might have on their flight records,” she says.
“If a pilot has a less-than-perfect record, it isn’t the end of the world. None of us is perfect, and the important thing is that we all learn from our mistakes. And part of that learning process is admitting the failure, seeing where you can grow from it, and moving on,” she adds. “A person shouldn’t have to pay for the rest of his life for an error in judgment. But it’s so important to have the maturity to bring it up in the interview. It will come up sooner or later in the background checks, so you might as well get it out in the interview. And if there is an area of concern, and we find out that the pilot hasn’t discussed it with me, I may check with LaMar and see if he discussed it (with the applicant). If not, that may be an indication that this person still hasn’t learned everything he or she can from the experience.”
Williams says the 401(k) match program is one benefit that often elicits a positive reaction from new hires. She also believes the corporate culture at Horizon and close-knit family environment are some of the best aspects of working for the company. She adds that Horizon is always on the lookout for qualified female and minority candidates to interview.
“We think that it’s important for pilots to have a well-rounded background. We may have an older, military veteran and a young, recent graduate of a flight school together in the cockpit for several hours together, and we think the insights those people can share with each other makes for a much richer experience.”
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