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Air Wisconsin Pilot Interview Profiles

» Home » Pilot Interviews » National Airlines » Air Wisconsin
Date Interviewed: January 2015
Summary of Qualifications: 4200TT, all military/turbine. 1900 Helo, 2200TPIC/1495 MEL PIC, IP, CFI/CFII, ATP.
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Previous gouge was good. Started out with a brief intro then right into the 50 question ATP style multiple choice test. After that were the individual interviews.
The HR questions were very basic and limited. I was called out on my high times right away, i.e. what are you doing here? I explained that I want the 121 time and jet experience (considering I've been low alt VFR for much of my career) and that going straight into a Delta 767 would be a recipe for trouble in my case. They bought that and I sincerely meant it.
Technical portion was fairly basic as well:
Approach plate briefing - note if the mins are non-standard and why that might be (obstacles). Understand how approach lighting may also affect mins. Know the approach lighting symbols. Airport signs. I was spared the light gun questions since I correctly noted that for an ILS hold-short the WX requirment to use that was 800-2. They said I was the first guy in ten interview sessions who got that. yay.
Had to read several TAFs and METARs...was asked the obscure codes and didn't know them too well - said I'd look them up. Save yourself the headache and review those carefully!
Do you have to enter holding via the teardrop/parallel/direct? - no, you can do whatever so long as you remain on the side the pattern is supposed to be on.
Reviewed jepp low enroute charts/symbology and approach plate symbology. MEAs, MSAs, when do you changeover navaids when it's not depicted?, etc...
All in all, the main focus was on IFR competence.
What makes you a good fit for AWAC?
What do you bring to AWAC?

I had all of my documents ready to go, logbooks in original form and digitized...not much scrutiny here but that may be due to my high hours. Had extra resumes but only needed one.

They were very relaxed - interviewers were line pilots dressed informally. Seemed like a good bunch and they put me at ease.
Show up in a good suit with the paperwork you need, logbook ready to go and knowing your Charts. I did some of the Sheppard air prep for the 50 question test which was helpful to me since I hadn't seen any ATP questions for a long time.
Since I drove to the interview and stayed at a buddy's house I don't have any hotel/shuttle gouge to pass on.
Good luck and be yourself.
Date Interviewed: December 2014
Summary of Qualifications: Military, ~4k TT, ~2.5k PIC, ATP, DC-10, LR-JET, BE-300
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
AWAC just changed their interview location to the Cincinnati Airport Hilton. The basic process is as described by others here, minus the sim, which is no longer part of the interview. I used Sheppard Air’s interview prep class and it had at least 3/4 of the questions that were on the test. Know what part of an airplane accumulates ice first and what kind of pressure a stall warning device measures. Know METAR/TAF, signage and charts. Don’t worry if you don’t know obscure wx codes at the end of a TAF – just say you’d look it up. Take along your job and address history because you’ll be filling out an on-line background questionnaire. Other than that, just try to relax and convince them that you’re they kinda person that would be good to go on a 4 day trip with and that will play well with everybody else on the team.
Date Interviewed: November 2014
Summary of Qualifications: 2000TT 800 Multi 700 TPIC 135 PIC
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
I arrived into Philadelphia the night before and stayed at the Sheraton. The discounted rate with Air Wisconsin is $62/a night plus tax. The morning of the interview I caught a 7:20 shuttle and arrived at HQ by 7:40AM. The interview process started at 8:30 as they were waiting for late arrivals. The recruiter gave a good over view of the company, the future etc. The chief pilots, and line pilots then went over the contact, training schedule etc. After all that was said and done, we took a 50 question written test. The questions were from the ATP bank. Previous gouge spot on for that.

After that there was lunch, and the two on one stuff began. Mostly basic HR questions such as why do you want to work here, tell me about a time etc. previous gouges spot on for that. The tech stuff was easy as well...what's this on a Jepp low enroute chart....study jepp enroutes as that's all they have. The asked to brief a approach, what's this and that on the plate, decode meters, tafs and airport signage. All basic stuff.

They want you to relax and put you at ease. It was defiantly an enjoyable day, and I'm looking forwarding to working at AWAC.
Date Interviewed: October 2014
Summary of Qualifications: Commercial Multi-engine
TT 1500+
Multi 500+
Were you offered the job? Don't Know
Pilot Interview Profile:
Received an e-mail invitation to attend an interview in PHL approximately three days prior. They will send you a confirmation e-mail with nine attached documents to fill out one of which must be notarized!! Also make sure you bring the copies that they request, including at least four resumes. They offer you space available travel to PHL, it's a good idea to go the day before your interview so you can assure you will be on-time. I stayed at the Four Points they have a shuttle that passes the airport arrival section every 20 minutes or so (it will be less if you call and tell them you are waiting). The room was not paid for by Air Wisconsin which I guess is okay, most regionals aren't anymore. Their arranged rate is $62+ tax, make sure you call ahead and make a reservation. If you can avoid the hotel restaurant you won't be missing anything, I only had a burger with fries and the total was over $22! Hotel room is comfortable with free wifi and comfortable beds. Make sure you ask the front desk what time the shuttles will depart the hotel in the morning. Take an early shuttle leaving the hotel at least 40 minutes before your interview time because they have to take the airline passengers to the airport before they will take you to the interview site.
Once you get to Air Wisconsin's office you can take a seat in the break room where you can buy snacks and drinks from vending machines. You will sit here for a bit eventually right around the scheduled start time Jonathan will come in and pass out folders to put all the requested documents and copies in. After a few more minutes of waiting for late arrivals they will invite you into a larger classroom and hand out packets about the company and contract. After a quick icebreaker Jonathan will then run through the company history and take about some of their future goals. Then he passes it off to the line pilots who will also be in the room for introductions and then go through some of the details of the contract, benefits, and an overview of what training will be like.
After a short break Jonathan will pass out the written exam. It is straight from the ATP question bank, mostly basic stuff. Know what an LDA approach is, know holding times and speeds are at all altitudes, difference in the effect on aircraft from flower vs. split flaps, what determines what makes an engine is critical? One of the candidates asked one of the line pilots how many questions you can miss and he said "15 but even that is not an automatic send home". So study a little relax it's really not that hard.
Next you will head back to the break room and they will start calling people for the three on one interview. Some people will go before lunch others will still be waiting for their turn when it arrives. For us they had cheese steaks and pizza delivered, it was very good. On my interview day there were a lot of applicants 12+ so they had two separate groups of three line pilots and chief pilots interviewing.
Once it is your turn one of the line pilots will come get you and lead you to a smaller room. You will again be introduced to each of the three pilots interviewing you are. In my case there was one FO, one captain, and one assistant chief pilot. They will likely tell you to take your suit coat off and be comfortable. They tell you the pace of the interview is entirely up to you as in they have their questions to ask and you can take as much time as you need to answer them. One of the pilots will ask to look at your logbooks and another will start with some HR questions. They just want to see what kind of person you are and if they'd like to be on a four day trip with you. Why AWAC? Tell me what 3 qualities you can bring to the company? What one good and bad thing would your former boss say about you? Why did/are you looking to leave your former employer? What makes a good captain? What makes a good FO? If you were doing the interviewing what would you look for in a FO? What kind of person do you think we want to work with? You will get one situation question which was just odd but it's been mentioned before in past reviews so I won't repeat it here. There will be a couple random resume questions. Next you will move onto the technical part. Know your low enroute Jepp charts (they don't have a NACO low enroute), nothing tricky again just basic. What do the colors of the airports mean? What does the color off the OROCA mean? What does the OROCA guarantee? Know the symbol for MOCA and what it guarantees. What is a MEA? Where would you change navaids on a Victor airway where a changeover point isn't listed? Next they will ask if you would prefer Jepp or NACO approach plate questions. They will ask where the miss approach point is on an ILS. Ask you to brief an full approach for an ILS/LOC with the glide slope unusable. Remember keep the procedure turn inside 10 miles! There were a lot of random but very straightforward approach plate questions. Know what hot spots are. They will ask you what airport signs mean. Know what conditions you need to stop at the ILS critical area hold lines. Then they will ask if you have any questions for them. (have one!) They will then tell you it will be three - five days until you hear anything.
They then send you back to the break room where you again wait they were trying to do some applicants finger prints but the machine was not cooperating so they didn't get through too many. It started to get late for us approaching 4pm so Jonathan started just calling us in one by one to quickly go over all the documents you filled out before the interview. He will look at each and make sure it's properly filled out (read the directions it's really not that hard). He will tell you once again you will hear something in 3-5 days and you are free to head back to the airport to catch your flight home. If you call the hotel they will send a shuttle to take you back to the airport.
Make sure you keep up a professional appearance on the plane ride home, be nice to everyone! Remember you are a guest on their airline and can report you if they really want if you are rude to them. The whole interview process with AWAC is very laidback, there is no sim, no trickery. Just relax and do your thing!
Date Interviewed: April 2014
Summary of Qualifications: 730 TT, 300 Turbine, Military R-ATP mins, ATP written
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Interview site was also in PHL. Flying stand by was a little bit of a headache but I made it there by 4-5 the day prior. My advice, when booking with US Airways when coming out of a busier airport, attempt to start your day with a noon-ish flight in case you get bumped by other stand-by. I say this for two reasons. First, we had a guy coming from DFW that waited 12 hours to get on a plane and didn't arrive until 1030pm. Second, our interview group should have had 19 people, and there were only seven of us there.

Day started as other gouges say. About two hours or so was dedicated solely to company history, background, and answering any questions you might have. My advice, ASK QUESTIONS! Seem interested. Even if this isn't your first rodeo, they are looking at you being a good fit for their culture more than anything. One of the first sentences out of a line captain on the panel in the morning was, "Be yourselves. We all know you can fly and are qualified to be here, or you wouldn't be here. We really just want to know if we can sit with you for 8 hours a day in a cockpit for a four day trip." They all do a very nice job of making it very informal (or as informal that an interview can be). After the Q&A session, we took a 50 question multiple choice test. Never found out the results of the tests, but it was all out of the ATP books, so I would brush up on that if it has been a while since you have taken the written. I took mine four days prior so it was still a little fresh.

Here is where the waiting game began. They anticipated 19 people, so the company had three two-person panels conducting interviews at the same time. I wouldn't plan on being this lucky. All three panels were a line captain and an asst. chief pilot. From my counting, they took about 30-minutes each, but if you aren't one of the first ones to go, it feels like forever. Make use of that time, talk with the other candidates. They make sure you know you are not interviewing against each other, that ideally they want to hire you all because they need pilots. This is a true statement. My experience was a little heavier on the HR side of the house. Typical questions…What makes a good CPT? FO? What drew you ti AirWis? Strengths? Areas for improvement? The hardest question I got asked all day was an HR question. Your crew goes out and you stay in, and at 2am a FA knocks on your door crying, drunk, saying the CPT sexually assaulted her, what do you do? Just go with your common sense on these questions. DO NOT bring her into your room. Console her in a public open place, and tell her to get her management involved as well as call your chief/asst chief pilot and make them aware. The whole incident may not even be true, but this is not a problem for you to negotiate, let management handle these types of things.

Tech portion was very straightforward just like the previous gouge. ELA's, approach plates, whats this, whats that? What can you descend to on an ILS. Wheres the MAP? They also covered airport signs, light gun signals, METAR/TAF's. They only have a Jepp ELA so if you are used to FAA (NOS) charts, get your learn on. I struggled through this part just because of unfamiliarity. After the tech was over and they ask if you have questions, make sure to have questions to ask. I found common ground with both interviewees and that helps tremendously when they talk about voting you off the island. They are people too, and they want to see that you are a good communicator and will breath life into the cockpit.

After the panel interview was complete it was back to the break room. I again waited about 45 minutes to an hour when Scott called me back for fingerprinting. I sincerely thought I did not get the job, but Scott said they were telling people individually the positive results. First interview, only interview thank God. Its not a lie. When the other gouges tell you to relax, that they make it as comfortable an environment as they possibly can, they mean that. Everyone on the AirWis team made me feel like I belonged, that they were glad we were there, and were as excited as we were at the potential of us flying the line with them. This company carries with it a great reputation in the industry and I now see why. From the line to the admin employees at the PHL location, what a pleasurable experience. Fair warned though, they will not hire just anyone. Two of the seven didn't make it through. I think this was in large part due to personality conflicts. Being personable and trainable is a really great thing to be in this interview!
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