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Mesa Airlines Pilot Interview Profiles

» Home » Pilot Interviews » National Airlines » Mesa Airlines
Date Interviewed: August 2006
Summary of Qualifications: I have 953TT, 140 Multi, CFI, CFII, MEI
Were you offered the job? No
Pilot Interview Profile:
I do not know if I got it yet, but here's the low down.

Date 8/23/2006 in PHX


We started off by Chris (Christine) Becker (Pilot Recruiter) introducing herself to us. Then we filled out background check paperwork. The 50 question ATP was not bad, it was HEAVY on FAR 121, lite on FAR 91 and then there was one question on hydroplaning, one on de-icing fluids, one on lite twins (when to liftoff before or after VMC). There was a break which they used to grade teh test, they are strict on the 80% one guy missed it by 1 question and they sent him packing. After that there was a brief overview of Mesa, Pay, bases, benefits, ect. The interviewers all introduced themselves and asked if we had any questions.

The interview consisted of a "tell me a bit about yourself," "How did you get into flying". Then came the IFR question. I was asked to brief the ILS or LOC DME Rwy 16 into Eugene OR, and how would I go from the VOR to the approach course. He asked questions about the plate, pointed at symbols asked what they were and asked "if you are outbound on the approach to intercept the ILS (still the one into Eugene) and the controller says visibility 1/4sm (minimum for the approach is 1/2) can you land" They asks you to explain. Then METAR's & TAF's, be able to read and explain the little crazy things (ie instead of visibility it shows 9999, or on a TAF what INS after the altimeter setting is). Then came the Low Enroute Charts, again he asked me what certain thins were (pointed to a victor airway and asked what each of the numbers meant, pointed to symbols and asked what they were). Finally he asked, "You are coming into a VOR at 26,000 and need to cross the VOR at 10,000 at 420kts. How far out are you going to start your descent and at what vertical speed?" The last thing with the interviewer was the HR questions, and they were the standard, "what are your worst qualities," "your captain shows up to the airplane staggering and slurring his speech, what do you do?" and a few others.

Advice for their interview (and probably any interview). Make sure you have all the documents requested, have a list of previous addresses going back at least 10 years, Mesa asks for 7 years. Just relax and be honest.
Date Interviewed: July 2006
Summary of Qualifications: Commercial Single-Multi, 1000 TT, 700 Multi
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
There were about 15 people being interviewed for First Officer positions. Everyone was sitting silently in a room at the Mesa Corporate Building in Phoenix. Upon entry into the room Chris Bender instructed everyone to hand in all of the required paperwork. So have all of your stuff readily available and complete. Chris Bender then handed out a packet of paperwork that you needed to fill out. It wasn't anything difficult, just contact information and stuff like that. Then came the dreaded 50 question ATP written exam. Just like previous gouges, there were not any refer to diagram questions, so be knowledgeable on everything else. Everyone waited outside the room for at least 45 minutes while they graded the tests right there. It was made very clear that you needed at least an 80% to continue with the interview. Everyone passed the written. They do not tell you what you scored, simply a pass or fail. The interviews commenced immediately following the test results. They had 5 interviewers and I think of the 5 there might have been one FO. Each interviewer conducted an individual interview with the candidates. Meaning that you only interviewed with one interviewer, not that you had to do 5 interviews. The one interview encompassed both technical and HR subjects. HR: the basics...why do you want to work for Mesa, are you willing to relocate, which aircraft do you want to fly, etc. Technical: What do you do if the CPT accidentally taxis the aircraft off of the runway and it gets stuck in the mud, what if the CPT lied and said that he was swerving to hit a deer, the drunk CPT question, etc... Be able to finger fly an approach. Everything on Jepp charts and plates are fair game. Be knowledgeable of TAFS and METARS, know 91 alt. mins. The interview was more like a conversation that a quiz. That made it go by quickly and it also takes some stress off. In general it was much easier than I anticipated. Not to say that you should slack off on your preparations for the interview. I would always suggest being over prepared. The interviewers know that you are nervous so don't let that get the best of you. Remember, you wouldn't be there if you didn't meet the requirements, if they didn't need pilots, or if they had no intention of hiring you...so act like it!!!
Date Interviewed: April 2006
Summary of Qualifications: cfii 135 cargo
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
scored 92 on test and was asked what i knew about mesa, where does faf begin on jepps. Thats it! Dress well and do well on atp test and interview should be no problem. Study Atp study guide and test is a breeze. Mainly 121 part. But study all questions not having refer to chart answers.
Date Interviewed: February 2006
Summary of Qualifications: COM/CFI/CFII/MEI  1350hrs, 75 multi
Were you offered the job? No
Pilot Interview Profile:
Arrived at 0815 for the 0830 interview. There were 22 guys interviewing. My interview pretty well followed the gouges you have already read. Chris Bender welcomed us and immediately gave out the ATP. Everyone passed. I was the first one interviewed. The F/O went over my package and we talked about qualities of a leader. Make sure that you know your 60:1 stuff and how to calculate VDPs; both by time and distance. If you don't know it; learn it--everyone gets questions on this. I had to brief a Jepp approach into Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. Interview lasted about 15-20 minutes. Very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Remember, if you are there, they want to hire you---don't give them a reason not to. Good luck!

Date Interviewed: January 2006
Summary of Qualifications: CFII, MEI, 1600TT, 300Multi.
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
They change the written test all the time (HR told us that). So expect anything, on my particular test (50 question) they asked about emergency equipment, something about magnetized materials, and random question, no figure questions. A couple of people failed the written test. Don't use the gouges as a study guide, they can still ask you lot's of other different things, other people in my interview group had different questions.
After a couple of hours of waiting it was my turn for the interview. There were three people, ERJ captain, a CRJ F/O and someone from HR. The CRJ F/O was really arrogant, not friendly at all. But the other two were nice.
Questions that were asked:
Calculate VDP, time and distance. If you are at FL270, and you need to descend to 13000' at 2000FPM how many miles will it take. You are descending 9000 feet in total, traveling 300 knots, cross XYZ fix at 250 knots, how many miles. The capt pulled out an approach plate (jepp plate) tell me where the final approach fix is, what is the HAT, what type of lighting does this airport have. What are the standard takeoff mins, what are the alternate mins, can we use this airport as an alternate. What is MSA, MAA, MEA, MORA. How much clearance does each give you. What are the circling mins if you are a Cat B airplane, CAt c airplane. Pulled out a low enroute, ask me some questions not too hard if you know the legend of a low enroute. How do you obtain an IFR clearance at an uncontrolled airport. What is clearance void time.
How does a thunderstorm develop, what are the stages and which one is the worst. What is hydroplaning, name the three types and describe each briefly. Be able to tell them what speed your airplane could hydroplane at (square root of tire pressure multiplied by 9). Then some questions about the blockage of pitot tube, if pitot tube is blocked, and static port is not, what indications on the airspeed indicator. How is indicated airspeed affected when landing at high elevation airport. What happens at LD/max? what does it give you.
Describe the Electrical system (what is a rectifier,inverter, overvoltage relay), Landing gear, and fuel system of your aircraft. (To impress them show them that you can draw out all the systems, I drew the hydraulic system, they seem to really like that.)
HR portion: Why do you want to be a pilot, what do you think it will be like to fly for a regional airline. How would you decribe yourself, what are qualities of a leader, what makes a good captain, do you think you would make a good captain. Are you willing to take any aircraft, are you willing to relocate. What do you think your instructor would say about your flying skills. Failed checkrides. How are you going to transition from light twin aircraft to a CRJ? How did you prepare for this interview.
Any questions? Not too bad of an interview. Make sure you eat like everybody else tells you too, we all had headaches because nobody brought anything to eat or dirnk.The interview itself was about 45 minutes to an hour. Take your time to answer their questions, they even tell you too. Please dress up neatly to these interviews, we had a guy that wore black dress shoes, but the leather was all gone on the top, it was white! Come on! All right goodluck to all.

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