Arrive at interview at least 15 minutes early. Wear a suit and tie. Bring a pen. Be clean shaven and sharp looking. Be friendly, courteous, and be yourself. I think the main point of the whole interview is they are asking, "Would I like to spend four days on a trip with this individual?"
The interviewers are very friendly and make you feel comfortable right from the start, and they want you to get the job, do not give them a reason otherwise. Be positive about everything, current and past employers, experiences, etc.
Your one and only goal? - To become a Skywest Airlines Captain.
Have original and two copies of all required documents. Put tabs in your pilot logbooks for each of your major check rides, type ratings, IPC's, flight reviews, etc... (They will want to see every significant event in your logbook). Have your paperwork and your pilot logbooks ready, organized and easily assessable at the start of interview.
There are three portions of the interview, a technical portion, a CRM exercise with your fellow interviewees, and an HR portion. The whole process will take most of the day. You will have lunch with the interviewers. This is part of the interview. Keep it professional, positive and friendly. At the start of the day you will be asked to give a brief introduction to the group about yourself and the interviewers will do the same. There will be a lot of breaks and a lot of sitting around waiting with the other applicants. This may be on purpose to see how you interact with other people.
During the interview highlight achievements/strengths that they are looking for. They want to know what you will do for the company. Skywest focuses on Professionalism, Attitude, and Leadership. Have an example of each from your experience to use during the interview.
Major focus on CRM. Be able to define it and have examples from your experience.
YOU WILL BE ASKED TO DRAW & EXPLAIN IN DETAIL:
(1) A Turbine Engine.
(2) An Electrical System (any multi-engine aircraft you are familiar with).
(3) All The Requirements Of 91.175 ( c) Operation below DA/ DH or MDA
- Note: Just section C
JET ENGINE QUESTIONS:
Be able to explain your engine diagram and how every section works as if explaining it to a non-aviator?
What is the bypass ration? (5:1 is fairly standard) How to start a turbine engine? Difference between Axial and Centrifugal compressors? Once lit do the igniters need to keep firing or is it a self sustaining? How do we pressurize the cabin? How do we cool it for the air-conditioning? What is N1, N2, ITT? What is a Hot start? Hung start? What is continuous ignition? When does it come on? When do we turn it on? Overall be very comfortable with the turbine engine of your choice.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM QUESTIONS:
Be able to explain your electrical diagram and how it all works as if explaining it to a non-aviator?
He referenced my electrical diagram and asked more questions like “What runs off the battery bus” and asked me to explain the basics of the system (battery info, generators, busses, etc.) They will tailor the questions to your experience level and airplane. How to turn DC to AC? Volts/amps in your system? Starter / generator / alternator differences? Is the Battery AC or DC? What is a fuse and its purpose? What is a circuit breaker and its purpose? How does a circuit breaker trip? What is a circuit breaker panel? What is a volt? What is a amp? What is used to Convert Ac to DC? What is used to Convert DC to AC? What is a TRU? Inverter? Advantages and Disadvantages of AC and DC? Be very comfortable with the multi-engine aircraft electrical system of your choice.
MINIMUMS/WEATHER QUESTIONS:
Using your diagram, explain the Requirements Of 91.175 ( c) (Operation below DA/ DH or MDA). Remember part 121 operators must touchdown in the landing zone. Requirements - Alternate minimums and filing an alternate? Requirements in order to not have an alternate (1 hour before and 1 hour after / 2000' ceilings / 3 SM Vis). Is the 100-foot restriction from the Approach Lighting was measured from field elevation or TDZE? What does a ALSF approach lighting system look like, and what do the other instrument runway lighting systems look like? How far from the runway are we at DH" "What if at DH we only see the rabbit 6.5 miles away, what would we do?
YOU WILL BE GIVEN A DISPATCH TO READ FROM:
Read the METAR/TAF (know all TAF/METAR abbreviations). "TAF TEMPO" meaning and what does it mean to us? How many times/day does the TAF come out? What is the weather going to be at the time of our arrival? Do we need an alternate at this time? (If the TAFs in between the time you want. Take the latter of the two). Do you have takeoff minimums? If not, is a departure alternate required? How far away does it need to be?
What are the stages of a thunderstorm? Which way is a storm moving if the anvil top is pointed left? Which way would you want to try to fly around the storm then? How far away from the storm would you try to fly?
Different types of icing? (Be very comfortable with all aspects of icing, de-icing fluids, anti-icing procedures, etc.) Different types of fog? Weather associated with a cold front and a warm front?
Microburst (Know when they happen, what they look like, escape maneuver, etc...). What are aircraft indications that you have encounter one? What should you do? Virga, what is it and what does it tell you as a pilot?
JEPP CHARTS (ENROUTE, DEPARTURE, APPROACH & STAR) QUESTIONS:
Spent a good amount of time on all different types of Jepp charts. Know every symbol and number on Jepp charts, colors on chart, VOR's service volumes, airspace, etc... Brief an instrument approach. Brief the missed approach and asked how I would fly it? Where is the FAF if you are assigned a higher altitude on an ILS (the lowest published GS intercept altitude)? FAF on Precision? FAF on Non-Precision? What do you need to descend below 100 feet above TDZE? MSA, what does it give you and within what distance? Approach charts; Know everything in the “Landing minimums” section. Define MEA / MRA / MCA? Standard Instrument Departure scenario. Is this a VFR or IFR Airport? What's the difference in colors? Is this a Civil airport or a Military Airport? How fast can you go in D airspace? What is the asterisk next to a CTAF? How do you know if you are flying over a mountainous area? (where can you find? - AIM) How wide is a victor airway? If you are past the VDP but before the MAP and you break out of the clouds can you continue and land? How do you enter the hold, What is your outbound course? Holding Speeds vs. Altitudes? Max Speed inside Bravo Airspace at 10,000 and above? What is a MOCA? what does it provide? How can you tell the difference between an airport with an instrument approach and one without? Grid MORA, what is it, what does it provide you with? What does it mean when a localizer course is depicted on an enroute chart? What is the min climb rate req. when climbing to meet a MCA? What does the “D” in “D-ATIS” mean? What does the (L) and (H) mean next to the NAVAIDs. Can you join the glide slope from further out than the published glide slope intercept altitude? Be very comfortable with all aspects of Jepp charts!
LOST COMMUNICATION SCENARIO
Be very comfortable explaining AVEF/MEA requirements given a scenario.
PERFORMANCE/FLIGHT CONTROLS QUESTIONS:
Yaw Damper failure and stability? What do we have to counter Dutch roll? What is mach? Critical Mach? Mach tuck( mach buffet/tuck)? Swept Wing (Pros and Cons)? Swept wing; characteristics (general discussion). Where does the wing first stall? (Swept = Tips). What does an impending stall do to aircraft control? What effect does airspeed have on a swept wing (low vs. high speeds) Rudder Boast (general discussion) what does it do? What is Critical Angle of Attack? What is the basic stall recovery procedure? VOR altitudes and ranges? How does stall speed change with altitude? MEL/CDL usage? How do wingtip vortices circulate? What do winglets do?
HR PORTION OF INTERVIEW:
Be able to explain why you want to work for Skywest. (Your desire is to become a Skywest Captain) What can you bring to SkyWest? How you would benefit company? Tell me a time when you were a leader? Challenged? Successful? Did something Stupid? Had an emergency in flight? How many hours, bottle to throttle? Tell me your biggest strength and weakness? One of the requirements to get your ATP is to be “of good moral character”. Tell me about a time you demonstrated good moral character? If we flew 4 days together, and said our goodbyes, what impression would I have of you? What things would stand out about you? Have you ever broken a regulation? Tell me about it? Tell me about the best flight you’ve ever had? Tell me about the worst flight you’ve ever had? Skywest will spend tens of thousands of dollars on your training. Why should I trust that you will make it through and complete ground school? Any Checkride failures or 141 stage check unsats? What happen? What did you learn from them? (be honest) You are at minimums on an ILS approach, runway not in sight, captain is continuing. What do you do? You forget your toothbrush and run down to the lobby to get one on an overnight. You see the captain sitting at the bar with a drink, it’s within the 8 hour minimum, what do you do? (They want to see if you will turn in the captain if required for safety reasons) What do you think will be most challenging for you during training if offered a position? How are you going to overcome these challenges? How would your students describe you? They ask about your flying career, difficult times and best times in aviation for you. Tell me about the time you took up your first passenger, who was it and how did it make you feel? How accurate is your logbook? How would you deal with a younger pilot, maybe with less experience than you, that is the captain of the aircraft? How would you deal with a difficult co-work / captain / flight attendant? What will be your biggest challenge at ground school? Tell me a good aviation story? Tell me about a time you worked successfully as a team? Give a brief history of your career up to this point? Tell me about a time when you got in an argument with a co-worker, what about with a woman? Describe a time when you worked with a person you did not get along with, how did you handle it? What domicile would you want and why? (Be flexible) Greatest disappointment in aviation? What is your biggest weakness in your aviation? What could you improve in your aviation knowledge? Tell me about a time in your aviation career where you scared yourself? Will missing holidays and birthdays be a problem? What is your motivation to be a pilot? / When and why did you want to become a pilot? Example of Conflict Resolution? Any other questions for me? (Question for the interviewer)
Careful about this question - "Going out to dinner and the Captain walks down in a dress, what do you do?" - It is a trick question, they are simply seeing if you assume the Captain is a man.
What materials did you use to study? (They are expecting you have read the gouges and used them to prepare!)
CRM EXERCISE:
They are seeing if you can work out a scenario as a team. Use as much CRM as much as is possible (Involve ATC, Dispatch, Copilot, Cabin Attendants, Maintenance, Passengers, etc...) Review each decision with the other interviewees before acting, make sure you get an agreement before doing anything. If you're the jump seater, don't try to step on the flight crews toes, don't usurp the captain's authority and only suggest how you can help. Relax and remember it is not real.
DEBRIEF:
Captain(s) and HR will cover all portions of the interview. Prior to each portion, you will be asked how you think you did. Be comfortable admitting your mistakes. |
