Horizon vs Alaska interviews

You would think that these companies would be very similar because they are both under the same umbrella - but not so!! I just interviewed with both and there are some differences.

but one very important similarity is: both interviews can last ALL day!!

If you interview with Horizon - bring food and water!! They did not advise that the interview could last all day ahead of time so it was 2 o'clock before I got out of there - starving and dehydrated. At least Alaska Airlines warned me ahead of time AND the hotel provided water and places to get a bite to eat.

Also, Horizon showed slides of their past training classes and each class looked like a cookie cutter cut out of the previous one. Seems like Horizon just wants their FAs to look like the Sorority squad: NO Men, NO persons of color, etc. How Boring!!

At the Alaska interview, I was soooo happy to see the recruiter put up a picture of a DIVERSE training class, and said that they are not looking for one specific type of person, because their customers are all different types of people- YAY ALASKA! The recruiters at Alaska were fun, energetic, and LOVED their company! The recruiters at Horizon really didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor at all!

Here are some of the main job differences:

-Alaska starting pay: 21 to 23 k, Horizon: less than 19k

-Horizon pays for training $8/hr, Alaska...only $20 per day for food, etc.

-Alaska PAYS FOR YOUR UNIFORM!, Horizon: you pay $500

-Alaska is ADAMATE about NO NICOTINE, Horizon said nothing about that

-Alaska has a program when you are on reserve that you can actually bid for 'AM' reserve or 'PM' reserve - how cool is that!!!

Its interesting that you would make the comment that it seemed that Horizon is cookie cutter. Working for Horizon I seem to see the opposite. My class at Horizon had two men. Our class was also full of people of different sizes and backgrounds. Whenever I see the Alaska flight attendants on the bus they all seem the same. Thin and blond. Most of them being over the age of 40. That is probably because I am Seattle based. It might be different in Alaska where most new hires are based. The uniform cost at Horizon does not seem to be much of a factor to me because they pay you 19 dollars every two weeks so it seems like you are only paying a few dollars a paycheck for it. I have not attended an Alaska interview mostly because the thought of going to Anchorage does not appeal to me, or living my life of reserve but I would I think I might attend one some day just for the experience. One other factor you might want to consider is size of the company. Horizon is small and tends to be much more personable. You get to know everyone I don't know how that would work at Alaska. I hope you had fun at the interviews I think that is the most important part.

Does anyone know where Alaska bases their Spanish speaking f/as? Is it LAX by any chance? What are the travel agreements they have such as jumpseating or on their own aircraft for commuting

Airborinquen in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania said: Does anyone know where Alaska bases their Spanish speaking f/as? Is it LAX by any chance? What are the travel agreements they have such as jumpseating or on their own aircraft for commuting

At the group interview, they said if you were bilingual you would have your choice of bases and there would be a signing bonus. Alaska's bases are Anchorage, Seattle/Portland, and Long Beach.

I didn't hear about being able to bid for am or pm reserve, but that would be pretty cool. Either way, reserve isn't nearly as long as other airlines I've heard of. They say it's about 1 - 2 years, depending on the base you're at.