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Southwest Airlines Pilot Interview Profiles

» Home » Pilot Interviews » Major Airlines » Southwest Airlines
Date Interviewed: February 2008
Summary of Qualifications: Military, 3,400+ TT, 1,100+ PIC, C-141, C-5, C-12, C-21
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Previous write-ups were right-on! Flew in the day prior on AirTran (positive space flight), they paid for the flight, I paid for the hotel (Clarion is recommended -- very close to the Alteon training facility where they do the interviews, AT rate is $49). Had a nice conversation on the way to Atlanta with the flight attendants (which I brought up during the interview).

Show time at Alteon was 8:00 am -- busses from the Clarion were at 7:15 and 7:45 am, so I took the 7:15 because I did not want to be late. It turned out that the 7:45 would have been ok, but it was close for the 1 guy who took it -- he was almost late.

Everyone was very nice, and they went out of their way to help you relax. We had Lindsay, Mark (737 CA), and Jerry (717 CA) for the interviews. There were 3 one-on-one's. Started out with a company overview, expansion plans, etc. There was nothing I didn't already know about except for the possibility of a new crew base (within 100 miles of Indianapolis) -- they did not have any official word on this though.

After the overview, the rest of the day was waiting for each of the interviews. My first two were within the first 1 1/2 hours, and then I had a 2 1/2 hour wait for the third one. They brought lunch from Quizno's for all the interview-ees, although I don't know if they do this every time they do interviews.

I did not get any tech questions, although a couple of the younger guys did. All the questions were "TMAAT"-type.

Overall, a great experience. Know the company, be familiar with its mission statement, guiding principles, and values, and have lots of good flying stories available.
Date Interviewed: January 2008
Summary of Qualifications: Ex Mil/Cargo, 9000 hours, ATP.
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
0800 show at their training center behind the Clarion Hotel, which gives you a $49 AirTran rate if you book in advance and a ride to the interview. 30-45 min briefing by HR and Pilots, then individual interviews with 2 pilots (check airmen) and one HR rep. All TMATT questions and best and worst customer/crew stories. Look sharp, act professional, and as they said, "it is your job to lose." No sim, No technical stuff, No bogus "tests" or shrink. HR emails you the documents you need to bring and that's ALL they want Forget all the WORTHLESS prep you've done for the legacy carriers. No games at AirTran interview. Just tell them WHY you want to work there and why they should hire you (when asked). Good experience.
Date Interviewed: December 2007
Summary of Qualifications: See previous entry Dec 07.
Were you offered the job? No
Pilot Interview Profile:
update to gouge for previous Dec 07 interview. I just got the call from Jenny with a job offer. Interviewed on 20 Dec, offer 28 Dec. Happy New year!
Date Interviewed: December 2007
Summary of Qualifications: ATP, 3800 TT, Military, 3300 Turbine/F-15
Were you offered the job? No
Pilot Interview Profile:
Show at 0800 at Alteon in Atlanta. 5 people for interviews. 1 Marine retiring this summer, 2 commuter types, 1 retired Army aviator, and me. Sat us all down in conference room for a quick review of interview process from HR(Lindsay), Tom Lewis (Asst CHief PIlot), and Jerry Owen (737 Capt/previous F-16 guard guy). Very relaxed process, after Lindsay, Tom spoke to us about what is expected, of note, he also said that since we were called for an interview, the job was ours to lose.

As for my interviews, the bottom line is that they are very military friendly, and for the interviews with Tom/Jerry, pretty much a conversation vice interview, it was more of a why I should fly for them, not them asking why they should hire me. HR was standard TMAAT, good decision in the air, bad decision in the air, customer service story, tell me about your flying career.

Growth plan is good, around 40-50 737s over the next 3 years, they currently have classes starting every 3 weeks for the foreseeable future. Overall got a good feeling, several times they mentioned "when you get a call", not "if you get a call".

Date Interviewed: October 2007
Summary of Qualifications: ATP 5200TT, 2000 PIC Turbine Part 121
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
3 individual interviews each asked 2 questions. 2 were with pilots, 1 with HR.

Just getting to know you stuff. A few Tell me about a time...
1. You were in a leadership roll.
2. Your best Customer service situation and how it turned out.
3. A bad decision you flying and how it turned out.
4. Why Airtran

Just be yourself and show some good positive personality. If you are not into positive customer service, do yourself and everyone at AirTran a favor and do not apply.

Best of Luck!


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