• Interviewed on Aug 29
• If you’re not in Denver, they fly you positive space out there (from a Frontier-served location). Invitation suggested the Staybridge hotel, which is literally in the same parking lot—highly recommended for convenience sake. Several other hotels within a block or so that are plenty convenient, too (I stayed at the HI Express across the street, since Staybridge didn’t have any rooms).
• Official start time was 8:30, but invitation suggested showing “around 8:00” to check in. I got there a few minutes before 8 and there were three guys who’d arrived ahead of me. Building doesn’t open until 8, but one of the HR reps was going back and forth letting us in. Last of the applicants (13 of us for the day) arrived by about 8:15
• Brought us into the cafeteria/break room, had us start filling out PRIA paperwork, etc. Collected some of the ID copies we were told to bring. Had us fill out a 10-year work history, including contact numbers and a “Likes/Dislikes” about each job. I strongly recommend having your history (with addresses, dates, phone numbers) with you—they will still want you to fill out their form, but those who didn’t have it written down worked a lot harder than those of us who did….
• About 9:00, they herded us into the auditorium, where we met the Chief Pilot & the HR team, as well as the volunteer escorts. In what may have made the biggest impression on me all day, the volunteer escorts were a half-dozen guys flying the line who came in on their day off, volunteering to show us around, answer questions, shoot the bull, and generally give us their impressions of the company. They spanned the spectrum from the #1 line captain to the second-to-bottom FO. Class act, IMO.
• Briefing from HR & CP about the company, where it’s going, pay & benefits basics, etc. Some tidbits I hadn’t seen elsewhere:
o EFBs are a “done deal”; expect details to be finalized & iPads in use by end of year
o Planning to hire 50 pilots; CP chose his words carefully for what he was (and was not) at liberty to say, but he was “comfortable saying it will likely be more than that”
o First class is 16 Sep; 12 per class; one class per month; all classes in Denver, with sims split between DEN & MIA; trainees are considered domiciled in DEN, so no hotel provided for training—however, hotel is provided for those who go to MIA to sim
o $17,000 / 1 year training contract
• Rest of day was split between morning & afternoon, panel interviews & scenario interviews. Gave us a loose schedule of who was doing which interview in the morning, then flip-flop for the afternoon—the order of go was followed, but the timing was approximate and people just flowed through at whatever pace it took (some longer, some shorter). Otherwise we hung out in the break room, chatting with each other & the volunteer escorts.
• Lunch break was catered (Chipotle) in the auditorium, which was more opportunity to chat up both the volunteers & the interviewers. Chief Pilot is a really laid-back guy who was happy to take any & all questions.
• Specifics on the interview follow. NOTE, as many suspected, the previous week’s interviewees were told to keep a lid on things, hence the lack of info put out. However, the Chief Pilot explicitly said to feel free to spread the intel “starting tomorrow” (not to share with each other, though); he also said they’ll be changing the questions, so take the following as a guide to the flavor of question vice the actual questions.
• PANEL INTERVIEW: Five interviewers in the room: CP, head of pilot recruiting, HR, & 2 FOs. One of the FOs collected logbooks, IDs/licenses, and other paperwork, and reviewed them while the interview was going on (but was not otherwise involved). The panel was professional, personable & friendly, introduced themselves, asked me to relax, and started asking questions. No attempts to trick you, no good-cop/bad-cop, etc. I was mildly surprised at the format—they had the HR folks asking some of the tech questions & the pilots asking some of the HR questions, and more or less alternating between tech & HR-type questions. Everyone was taking notes on every answer to every question—I decided to just ignore that and speak at my own pace. No real surprises, nothing tough, nothing to brief (approaches, etc.). From memory:
o What’s the difference between “light chop” and “light turbulence”?
o What do alternating red & white runway centerline lights mean?
o Do you have to report entering holding while in radar contact?
o When did the last A318 leave Frontier?
o TMAAT you lied.
o TMAAT a captain made you uncomfortable.
o WWYD if your captain wasn’t following company procedure?
o What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made in pursuit of your flying career?
I’m sure I forgot a few that were asked, but not many—it really was pretty short. My impression of the tech-type questions is that they wanted more to see if you were going to try to BS your way through or not on the ones you are less sure on. I had no idea on the 318 question, for example, and said so, then just said “I think it was within the last year or so” by way of a guess….
• SCENARIO INTERVIEW: Three interviewers in the room, with a paper tiger on the wall (which is the last time you need to even think about it, it’s only there to help pretend you’re in an airplane). You’re the captain (fully qualified), you have a fully-qualified FO, there’s an FFDO in the jumpseat who is a fully-qualified F9 captain. The third interviewer is the moderator who is “invisible,” and who is also everyone else outside the cockpit (FAs, ATC, dispatch, etc.). You’re given a sheet of paper with the scenario and another with various weather info. You can ask as many questions as you like before the timer starts. The situation:
o You’re flying from DEN to LGA, you’re a bit south of Chicago, and the lead FA reports that there’s an unruly passenger, appears to be drunk, and is starting to hassle FAs & other pax.
o Also of note, the jet was MEL’d with a bad radio altimeter and limited to CAT1 approaches, and you took off max GW. The weather sheet only had three fields on it with CAT1 mins (DTW, something further east in Ohio, and LGA)—all the rest were below mins. I asked what the fuel situation (max GW t/o) was vs max landing weight—they seemed happy that I’d asked, but told me to forget about that and it wouldn’t be a factor.
o When you’re ready, the moderator sets the timer for seven minutes (you don’t see it, so I recommend looking at your watch) and “Go”
o I followed the Emerald Coast method (Albie, you’d be proud!), and I felt it worked pretty well for me. The distracters were that the FFDO was pretty gung-ho to go back and take care of things—I’ve never flown Pt 121, but I was pretty sure opening the door in such a case is a no-no, so I squashed that idea. ATC got pretty insistent on some upcoming moderate turbulence. The FA kept calling with ever-more dire reports on what the pax was doing, to include choking out one of the FAs. ATC started vectoring us south (i.e., away from DTW). Once I had everything together, I declared an emergency and diverted to DTW.
o I used every bit of the seven minutes—I had no sooner announced the decision, started the divert, and told the FO I’d be flying the approach & landing when the timer went off. I’m still not convinced they didn’t set the time for three minutes…
o One thing I think I “missed” was that the jumpseater was reading a newspaper while much of this was going on. I saw it, registered it—and was too task-saturated to recognize it until afterward. I assume they were looking for me to tell him to put it down and stay in the game. He was still responsive to the things I asked him to do (I’d put him in charge of talking to dispatch and working out our divert plan).
o I had the impression that some of the external inputs (e.g., the turbulence) were discretionary by the moderator—i.e., if you seem like you’re getting ahead of things, he’ll throw another curve ball in; I don’t know if that’s really the case or not
o Just like in the panel, the interviewers were all extremely professional & personable. The situation is designed to be stressful, but they go out of their way to ensure they are not personally adding to that stress.
• At the end of the day (once everyone was finished with both sessions), they brought us back into the auditorium. It was a very quick “thank you for coming, do you have any questions” briefing, and a chance to say thank you & good-bye to all the interviewers & volunteers. They stated that the calls would go out the next day (for all applicants this cycle—the first batch of guys from last week waited ~10 days, so I feel lucky to only have been on the hook for 24 hours!).
• Ultimately, I left the interview wanting the job even more than when I’d first showed up. My impression of the company is one that’s big enough to have the potential for some real growth, yet small enough that you can know the Chief Pilot without being in trouble for something. I was very happy to chat with a lot of motivated people who enjoyed where they work, who they work with, and who they work for—whatever the legacy carriers have going for them, that’s not something I’ve seen (from my limited exposure, at least)
• And… I got hired! I’m in the 16 Sep class. I’m really looking forward to joining F9’s operation and getting started on my future profession! |
