.1 day interview in Plattsburg. Space available travel with Commutair. I'm going from New York. When you arrive you'll meet
with Derinda. From what I here be very polite to her. Sometimes her
judgment carries alot of weight with the others.

Anyway the interview is a 2 on one with Capt Ray Baker chief pilot and
Vanda who I believe is the DO. Derind might sit in.
Capt Ray has the technical questions and Vanda the HR.

Some questions they told me are Why Commutair, Why you over others, If
your friends could describe you in one word what
would it be?

Capt Ray asks what your favorite plane is? Decsribe the landing gear
system, Pulls out a Jepp plate, wants a briefing. Explain
mandatory reporting points, Metar and Tafs.. Know Zulu time and how it
applies to both. Ie.. your arriving at 9:00 pm what is
the current weather, can you land etc... Know part 91.175 also the
instrument and multiengine oral guides are great help. Know

P factor and Vmc also Vspeeds for your current aircraft.

>From what all have said it was very easygoing. They also suggested the
common cliches be yourself and relax. I'll let you know
after the 28th.

Getting back to business, 2 were notified by the time they came home and
1 was offered job afetr ineterview. All job offers are
subject to Flightsafety screening. Commutair now pays for screening.
Used to be $350 or $395 not sure.

I'll have the Flightsafety gouge by the end of this week. I'm meeting my
friend on tuesday and he's gonna give me the whole
rundown. From what all three have told me it's not that difficult. Sim
was in a 1900C and 50 question test that you can't fail.
Not sure if timed. All took place at Laguardia. We're all in the
Northeast.

All three were offered jobs and training was approx 6 weeks from class
to Sim to IOE. Pay is a $200 stipend or salary (Call it
what you want)during training from day one. No more PFT.

Plattsburg is the junior FO base but 2 are already gone. One is in
Albany and the pther in Elmira. Third buddy just finished sim
sessions and started IOE.

All three (CFII-MEI) have had nothing but positive comments and felt is
was the right choice. Two interviewed with Eagle both
offered jobs. But both had strange experiences there. I'll give you that
gouge later. All have said people there are great and it is
a positive company to work for. Which is why the sinking ship comments
caught me off guard.

Anyhow upgrades are running 9 months to a year.

INTERVIEWED WITH COMMUTAIR BACK IN LATE NOVEMBER. I HAD FAXED MY RESUME AND WAS CALLED THE SAME DAY TO SET UP AN INTERVIEW. IM NOT SURE
IF THIS IS TYPICAL, SOME GUYS IN MY CLASS WERE NOT CALLED FOR A WEEK OR
TWO. THE INTERVIEWIS VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD AND RELAXED. YOUR INTERVIEW
WILL MOST LIKELY BE WITH THE CHIEF PILOT, DIR. OF TRAINING, AND AN HR
PERSON. THEY ASK THE TYPICAL HR STUFF:
WHY COMMUTAIR? WHAT WOULD YOUR OLD BOSS SAY ABOUT YOU IF WE CALLED HIM
NOW? WHAT DID YOU LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR LAST JOB? THINGS ALONG THOSE
LINES. THE CHIEF PILOT WILL USUALLY FLIP THROUGH YOUR LOGBOOK AS THE
OTHERS ARE TALKING TO YOU. HE MAY ASK A FEW QUESTIONS ON THE LAST A/C
YOU WERE FLYING. THE DIR. OF TRAINING WILL ASK YOU TO READ A METAR AND
THEN THE APPROPRIATE TAF. NOTHING TO TRICKY....JUST A FREEZING RAIN
SYMBOL IN THE TAF. THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS IF YOU HAVE FREEZING
RAIN AT THE SURFACE. (TEMP. INVERSION) THEY MAY ALSO ASK YOU TO RATE
YOURSELF AS A PILOT. YOU WILL ALSO HAVE TO BRIEF AN APPROACH AND ANSWER
SOME TYPICAL QUESIOTNS ABOUT DH, AND GOING BELOW DH. BESIDES THAT IT IS
A VERY RELAXED ATMOSPHERE AND EVERYONE THERE IS VERY NICE. THE ACTUAL
INTERVIEW LASTS ABOUT ONE HOUR. THEY MAY OR MAY NOT OFFER A
GROUNDSCHOOL DATE BEFORE YOU LEAVE THAT DAY, OR MAY CALL YOU IN A DAY OR
TWO. IF THEY WANT YOU, YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO FSI IN LGA TO DO A SIM
EVAL(THEY PAY). FOR THE INTERVIEW AND LGA SIM RIDE, THEY WILL PROVIDE
SPACE AVAILABLE TICKETS FOR YOU TO GET THERE . THEY PRETTY MUCH HAVE A
CLASS EVERY MONTH FOR THE NEXT 10 TO 12 MONTHS AS FAR AS I CAN TELL.(TWO
IN JAN.) YOU WILL BE PAID WHILE IN GROUNDSCHOOL AS AN F/O AT $16/hr
TIMES 20hrs/wk. YOU WILL TAKE HOME AROUND $250. YOU ALSO RECEIVE
OVERNIGHT PAY/PERDIEM OF $30/night WHILE IN GROUND SCHOOL. NOT A BAD
DEAL. UPGRADE TIME IS A YEAR. THEY FLY ALL BEECH 1900D MODELS. F/O
STARTS AT $16,000 AND I BELEIVE A CPT. STARTS AT $30,000, BUT DONT QUOTE
ME ON THAT. THEIR BASES ARE ALBANY, UTICA/SYRACUSE, PLATTSBURGH, ELMIRA,
PORTAND MAINE, PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND, DULLES, AND I THINK ROCHESTER.
YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE BASED IN PLATTSBURGH OR ELMIRA TO START WITH,
BUT YOU CAN BID OUT OF IT IN A MONTH OR TWO ONCE YOU HAVE SOME
SENIORITY. SOME OF THE GUYS IN MY CLASS GOT PLATTSBURGH AND ELMIRA,
WHILE SOME GOT PORTLAND MAINE....IT JUST DEPENDS WHERE THEY NEED PEOPLE
THE MOST, AND A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK. I JUST FINISHED MY GROUNDSCHOOL AND
I AM ON MY WAY TO THE SIM!! HOPE THIS HELPS OUT A LITTLE.

To begin, I am 1080 tt, 670 multi, (partner in an Aztec) Comm, Inst, Multi. No Cfi's . Sent resume in with 3 buddy pilots flying for Commutair 2nd week
in Dec. Received phone call from Derinda approx. 10 days later. Played phone
tag and finally received FedEx package with tickets and application for
12/29 Interview. App is very straight forward. No flight time grids or
things like that. You do need a passport photo to be brought with you.

12/29 Left Long Island 8:15 to Boston. Boston to Burlington VT, Burlington
to Plattsburg. Arrived at approx. 12:15. Interview at 1:00. Along the way
spoke to every crew for any last minute gouge. Every single one seemed like
a great bunch of guys. All said relax and be yourself (Cliché's??) No one
bad mouth the company or anyone else. I liked that and got a pretty good
feeling.

12:15 Met Derinda. From what everyone says, be extremely courteous with her.
She has a lot of pull if your borderline. She drove me to the HQ at the
other end of the field and made mostly small talk. Brought your name up. She
said it sounded familiar but that they were so back logged from the holidays
that they are trying to keep up with the pace. (I tried for you). Once we
got to the Admin. building, Derinda showed me around the maintenance hanger,
Admin. building, dispatch, etc.. Most of the building is under construction
and she explained that they are expanding. Seemed like a good sign. Not like
the "sinking ship" comments you here on other boards. All the while people
were going out of their way to say hello and just being friendly. Another
good sign. P.S. your the only one wearing a suit so everyone knows that it's
interview day. Very relaxed atmosphere around the entire complex. No one
else in suits.

After the tour, Derinda led me into a conference room collected my photo
looked over the app and began to explain about the company. Mostly about
benefits starting pay, domiciles, new cities being added and the negotiating
on 23 new 1900's. She also explained about attrition and that last month
they lost quite a few captains. She also informed me that all went to the
majors. Commutair knows that they are a training ground for the majors. Guys
hand fly the 1900 in the Northeast, No FA's, no toilets etc.. The Majors
seem to like this and she said that from time of upgrade, Captains usually
last 3 to 5 months then leave. She also explained staring pay at $16 per
hour :( ,and other travel benefits. She said that it's important to look
at all issues such as quality of life and experience gained before making
any decisions. All the while I was nodding and showing the utmost interest.
She really made you feel relaxed. I figured at this point thing might go
pretty smooth.

We were done by 12:50 and she told me to have a seat on the couch outside
Vanda's office. Vanda is the HR rep. I waited for approx. 45 to 50 minutes
before the actual interview. I figured this was a test to see how you will
react to delays etc... Turns out it wasn't??, I don't know, but they all
seemed pretty busy that day. While I was waiting an FO came in and I
happened to know him. He spent most of the time briefing me on the Jepp
plates from Roanoke, VA. ILS 24 and LDA approach. The LDA approach by the
way is a precision approach, it has Glide Slope. This is one of the Tech
questions. Study the Roanoke plates.

About 1:45 it was show time. I was led to Ray Baker's office for the
interview. It was 3 on 1. Vanda for HR, Doug the director of training and
Ray Baker chief pilot. Vanda begins by looking at your resume. Most question
come right from resume. Ray and Doug are checking out your log books and
making notes.

HR questions. Some were HR geared and some were situational.
1. What type of flying you mostly doing? (part 91) "OK we'll concentrate on
that."
2. Why should we hire you over the applicants?
3. What can you offer Commutair?
4. Have you ever failed a check ride? (yes instrument)
5. What happened?(didn't start time on ILS approach)
6. What did you learn? (start time on ILS approach) Laughs..
7. On scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate yourself as pilot? (8 always room to
learn and grow)
8. We know three of your friends are working for us, how do you compare
yourself to they and why?
9. What are your weakest points of being a pilot? (told her Weather, in
particular Remarks on Metars and Tafs) Study These!!!!!
10. Your flying from Bos to LGA, based on what would you need and alternate?
(1-2-3 rule.)
11. If you fly to the alternate, what are mins for approaches? (800-2, 600-2
Precision and Non.)
12. What are fuel requirements? (Dest, Alt and 45 mins)

Probably 1 or 2 more situational type questions. Study the Instrument Oral
guidebook very helpful!!! All in all not too stressful.

Doug director of training.
1. Notice no flying job but lots of multi and lots of instrument why? (have
airplane and partners were CFII, MEI's, when flying always under hood)
2. Read this Metar. (got about 80% correct, remarks section really *ucked up
some remarks never really have seen)
3. Read Taf. (did mostly ok, again 1 or 2 remarks not familiar with)
4. Your flying into ELM at 9:00pm lcl, read TAF. (Know Zulu) Can you land?
Based on TAF and remarks what's happening with weather. (Freezing drizzle,
inversion) What type of front? (warm front) Is front about to approach area
of has it just passed? (Told him not really sure, did not want to BS him)
5. Look at Jepp plate. Brief app. (older plate, no brief strip. Know how to
brief)
6. Your at a VOR xyz your cleared for the ILS approach, you lose your coms.
Walk me through this approach. ILS Roanoke, VA.(Did full approach, hold at
localizer, lost Alt in hold, setup for ILS tuned and id'd radios, past NDB
start timer ha,ha, descend. to DH)
7. what if your at DH and you see approach lights? (descend to 100' above
TDZE. part 91.175 know this)
8. At 100' above TDZE you see runway environment, what is runway
environment? (91.175)

A couple other minimums questions and he was done. The Metars and Tafs
razzled me a little but I tried hard to maintain composure and when I didn't
know I told him.

Ray Baker-Chief Pilot

1. I see lots of Aztec time. Tell me about the landing gear system. (gave
him dissertation)
2. What about fuel system? (again wrote a book. more info than needed)
3. I hear the Aztec can carry alot of ice? Is this true? (wouldn't know. No
certified and never been in that type of situation!!)
4. Any mechanical irregularities? ( yes, gear wouldn't drop. Gave him
emergency procedures. I flew the plane, other pilot did check list. Tried to
emphasize communication i.e. CRM)
5. Anything ever scare you in the Aztec? (no.)
6. Any flying situation ever scare you at all? (No, told him I respect
flying and airplane and that when I fly I tried to be the most prepared for
every trip.)

Asked a few questions about the log book and that was it.

Thanked everyone and we left office. Derinda was waiting took give me a ride
back to the terminal. As we were walking out she asked how it went. So I
tried being humble explaining that it could of gone better. She asked what
happened. Told her over went OK but stumbled with Doug and the Remarks on
Metars and Tafs. I figured if she did have any pull I'll try to come across
as sincere as possible. Also the interview for me did not end until I was
back home. She told me that they'll be in touch in about a week or two.

By the time I got home the offer was waiting. Ground School 1/23!!!
Flightsafety Eval first. (Boo..)
They do pickup the cost of the Eval and you are paid $200 (Hah!) a week
during training.

Recap, study the regs your currently flying. For me it was all 91. That's
all I knew. Especially 91.175. Know those damn metars and tafs and remarks.
Definitely read in instrument oral guide. Know hold entries and hold speeds
for your aircraft. Basically no drunken captain questions or alcohol breath
type ones. Remember it's not United. Also, if your not sure of something
tell them so. Don't B$ them. They need pilots that's for sure but it seems
they want the right mix. All the line guys were pretty cool fellas. The big
picture is they are growing which is positive. The flying is definitely a
learning experience in the Northeast. They 1900 is a great plane to start
and upgrade time seems reasonable. (Need that 121 PIC) according to the line
captains upgrades are about 14 to 16 months. Sometimes less based on your
experience.

My overall impression is that for a first 121 job the atmosphere was pretty
cool.(Crew and Company) The crew guys all said maintenance was first rate
and equipment was decent. But mostly Commutair knows that they are a
breeding ground and they seem comfortable with that. If your a team player,
they have the way to the Majors.

See you in class!!!