Flight attendant interview intel — hiring windows, bases, pay and reserve reality, training, culture, and the interview process. Know the airline inside and out before you walk in.
Horizon Air is Alaska Air Group's wholly-owned regional carrier — an all-Embraer E175 operation (47–48 aircraft heading toward ~50 by end of 2026) flying as "Alaska Horizon" from a Pacific Northwest-centered base map. Structurally, and this matters more than usual because the 2024–2025 merger news confuses most applicants: Horizon flies on its own FAA certificate. When Alaska and Hawaiian combined onto a single operating certificate in October 2025, Horizon was excluded — a Horizon FA is a Horizon employee on a separate seniority list, not an Alaska or Hawaiian FA, and applying to Horizon is not a backdoor into either mainline cabin.
Horizon's honest recruiting edge is training: 4 weeks of paid training in Portland, OR — explicitly contrasted on the group's own careers page with Alaska's 6-week and Hawaiian's 8-week programs, which are unpaid ($40/day per diem only). At Horizon you earn wages in training; at its own mainline you don't. The trade-off is on the other side of the ledger: the group's careers page shows a first-year rate of $20.66 per block hour and its own first-year estimate of about $25,000 — the lowest first-year figure among the carriers we've researched.
That number comes with volatility attached. The rate flows from an AFA contract that became amendable at the end of 2024 and is in active NMB mediation, with an AFA strike-authorization vote opened/authorized as of June 16, 2026. Understand what that means under the Railway Labor Act: a strike vote is negotiating leverage, not a strike — release from mediation, a 30-day cooling-off period, and further NMB steps would all have to precede any actual action. Both "Horizon FAs are about to strike" and "nothing is happening with the contract" are wrong framings. Practically: today's pay figures are accurate and likely to move; date every use.
Baseline requirements (joint careers page, checked August 2026): minimum age 21, high-school diploma or equivalent, ability to fly unrestricted in and out of all countries served (postings specify unrestricted Canada access and a current passport or ability to obtain one), and U.S. work authorization. Posting mirrors add 2 years of customer/community service experience — attribution across the three carriers on the shared page is the weak point, so verify per-requisition. On reach: the group's published standard — "Reach 82 vertical inches while standing on toes but without wearing shoes" — is attributed on the page to Alaska and Hawaiian; a Horizon-specific spec was not separately confirmed, so confirm Horizon's exact requirement on the posting rather than assuming 82 inches. No swim test appears in Horizon requirements reviewed.
Sources listed at the end of each profile. Data compiled from airline careers pages, union publications, industry press, and candidate-reported interview intel — wave-dependent facts carry as-of dates.
5 of the 73 Horizon-specific questions in the Cleared for Cabin bank, with the key point recruiters listen for. Full coached answers live in the app.
1. During boarding on a Horizon E175 from PDX to BOI, a passenger quietly tells you it's their first flight and they're terrified. How do you handle it?
Key point: Acknowledge, get eye-level, give concrete info and a specific check-in point, and brief the crew so the anxious passenger is supported end-to-end.
2. Tell me about a time you worked with a teammate whose style was very different from yours to get a job done.
Key point: Pick a real different-styles pairing, show how YOU adapted (not how they did), and tie it to two-FA E175 crews where fast trust with a stranger is the job.
3. What is a Flight Attendant Certificate of Demonstrated Proficiency, and why do you have to carry it on every flight?
Key point: An FAA-issued credential earned after Part 121 initial training that must be carried on person during duty and is tied to specific aircraft types you're qualified on — for Horizon, the E175.
4. What kind of airline is Horizon Air, and what do you fly?
Key point: Wholly-owned Alaska Air Group subsidiary on its own Part 121 certificate, all-E175 single fleet since Jan 2023, branded 'Alaska Horizon' under a CPA.
5. Walk me through the stages of the Horizon flight attendant hiring process, from finding a posting to your first day of training.
Key point: Talent Community/apply (effectively rolling despite windowed portal language) → app review → recorded audio interview (~8 Qs, 1 min each, 3 retakes) → virtual group interview → video-call 'face-to-face' (no travel) → conditional offer + background/drug screen → 4-week training in PDX with base assigned there. ~27 days app-to-hire per Glassdoor, but that's candidate data, not company data.
HireVue-format drills on the real 30-second-prep, 2-minute-answer clock, with AI coaching.