In early 2004, I was a newly-married freight dog flying single-pilot Part 135 for Ameriflight. A longtime colleague had just perished in a crash while covering my sometimes-hazardous route up California’s Owens Valley. I decided to redouble my efforts to get hired at a Part 121 airline.
This being a few years after 9/11, the majors were all in pretty tough shape, and even the growing regionals could still be very selective about who they hired. My airline of choice was Horizon Air, then the best-paying regional ($28/hour during the first year!), but they were notoriously choosy, and so far, my efforts to land an interview had gone unrewarded.
